Insert Random Scream of Pain Here
by James Firebrand
Summary: Anti-Cliche and Mary-Sue Elimination Society. Just when Ben and Bella are figuring out their relationship, Neb kidnaps Bella and holds her hostage. Left with no options, Ben is faced with two traitors in the Society, one of them being himself. B-Shipping.
1. Chapter I

**Disclaimer:...I like big butts and I cannot lie. **

**(Any appearing members of the Society belong to their respective Authors)**

**Insert Random Scream of Pain Here**

**Chapter 1: Innocent Exile**

**I know I broadcast this on the forum as my last Society fic, but I've had a change of heart. Sorry to pull a Brett Farve on you all, but I'll be sticking around for a while longer. So rather than this being a SERIES Finale, it'll be more like a season Finale. I am gonna take a break from writing Society for a while so I can take care of my SORELY neglected other fics. ****I've got an idea for what I'd like to do when I return to writing Society stories, but it'll be a group effort, that's all I'm saying for now.**

**As for this fic, it's gonna be a multi-chapter and the conclusion of the Bella Saga, so hang on tight, cause here we go!**

* * *

Neb sat nursing his wounds. The plan to kidnap Deebs and lure Ben and his friends into a trap had miserably failed. Neb sighed. After Shirley had hurled that last nuke at him he had fled to the nearest place he could open a plothole to. He looked around, it was pitch black. He wasn't even entirely sure this was a fandom. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, just darkness as far as his eye could see.

He pointed in a random direction. "Mess with Nukes." He muttered, hoping that the resulting explosion would generate some light. Nothing happened.

Neb growled and leveled a palm. "My coffeemakers--"

Suddenly, something grabbed him and slammed his head into the ground, hard.

Neb groaned in pain. Well, if nothing else, at least he was standing on something solid.

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't ruin my home." A voice sounded close to his ear. There was the sound of fingers being snapped and a soft glow appeared.

Neb blinked. Even with his sunglasses, the light hurt after being trapped in darkness for so long.

"Where've you been?" He rasped. "That plan of yours was worthless! We nearly got killed!"

"_My_ plan was worthless?" The voice chuckled. "All I did was tell you how to enter the mansion in Ben's imagination! You and your friends botched the so-called plan all on your own."

Neb growled.

"Now, now, it's no use getting mad at me, my leather-clad friend. But enough of this. I have some new information for you."

Neb listened to his contact in shock for several seconds, before an evil grin split his face.

* * *

It was one of those odd times in the Library Arcanium, where half the Society was sleeping and the other half was just getting up. That was one of the problems with bringing people together from different time zones.

Ben wasn't asleep though. He had too much on his mind. After being banned from the tech lab by Camille for repeated requests for updates on Bahamut's status, he had wandered aimlessly around the library for hours, before settling down and trying unsuccessfully to occupy himself with several books.

He tossed "A Breif History of Nukes" aside and turned up the volume on his MP3, hoping the lyrics from Lamb of God's lead singer would drown out the sound of his own thoughts. It didn't work.

Ben sighed, leaning back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't stop thinking.

Neb had vanished after their battle, so Ben had no clue where he was or what he was up to. And with someone like Neb, that only made him nervous. Deebs was safely back at the mansion under Seymour's watchful eye, and Shirley was there working on strengthening the mansions defences, but who was to say that Neb wouldn't try again? And on that note, what about the rest of his non-Society friends and family? He couldn't guarantee protection for all of them, especially not without Bahamut. Without his weapon-instrument, Ben could'nt even protect himself against his evil twin.

Camille had assured him several times that Bahamut could be fixed and that progress was being made on the repairs, but what if Neb struck in the meantime?

At least Bella was still safe, as far as he knew, he hadn't seen her since their battle in the Buso Renkin fandom.

Ben frowned as he thought of the emerald-haired Sue. Had he really done the right thing, helping her to escape? He didn't dare visit the mini-fandom himself for fear that the Society would notice the world and investigate. And for that matter, what was he thinking, falling for Mary-Sue? It wasn't as if they could ever have a real relationship, what with him being a Society Agent. And how did he even know what they had was real? For all he knew, it might just be the effect of her Sue powers on him after being around her so much.

Ben's stomach growled and he realized he hadn't eaten for several hours. Mabye things would be clearer after he got something in his stomach.

Ben hauled himself out of the chair and headed for the kitchen. He grabbed a packet of instant ramen from one of the cupboards and set a pan of water on the stove.

"Oh, Hi, Ben-kun!" A voice chirped behind him.

Ben started, whirling, nearly spilling scalding hot water on himself as he did so.

"Oh, hi, Aster. You startled me there..."

"Sorry~" The blue-haired fae apologized.

Ben chuckled. "It's OK. Do you want some ramen?"

Ben added more water and noodles to the pot and turned up the heat slightly.

When he turned back, Aster quickly looked away, as if she had been caught staring.

The two Agents sat down as they waited for the water to boil.

"So, Ben-kun," Aster said slowly. "Is there...anything you want to talk about?"

Ben shook his head mutely.

"You sure?" Aster probed. "Anything...at all?"

"Nothing in particular..." Ben said.

"Not even about what happened between you and Bella?"

Ben quickly looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "What do you mean?" He asked warily.

Aster shrugged. "All I know is that something happened between you two. Do you want to talk about it? Or...?"

Ben stared into empty space for a long while before talking. "When...before we fought, we got to talking. I got to know her a little better and she told me why she was fighting."

He looked over at Aster. "She wasn't like the other Mary-Sues." He said. "She was different. She didn't want power or control, all she wanted to do was to use her powers to help people. The more we talked, the more I came to understand her, and I..." He trailed off.

"And you fell in love with her." Aster finished for him.

Ben shrugged. Just then, the water began to boil and he got up, spooning the noodles into two bowls and handing one to Aster.

The two Agents ate in silence for a while before Ben cleared his throat.

"Tell me," Ben queried. "How did you know? About me and Bella, I mean?"

Aster giggled. "I've read just about every shojo manga in existence. There is very little about romance that I don't know. When I saw you after you got back from Buso Renkin, it was pretty obvious what was going on."

"Really?" Ben asked, uncomfortable with the idea that his emotions were so easily read by all.

"Well, to me at least, I doubt anyone else noticed anything."

"Ok...good." Ben went back to what was left of his soup.

"But there's still something on your mind..." Aster surmised.

"Yeah." Ben sighed. "I'm not entirely sure if...what we had was genuine."

"Why not?"

Ben shrugged. "I just--I don't know. I mean, how do I know that she wasn't just manipulating me? I saw her wrap ridiculously powerful canon characters around her finger like putty. How do I know that she wasn't doing the same thing to me?"

Aster cocked her head to one side. "Do you have any proof that she was?"

"No..."

"Then you shouldn't doubt her, Ben-kun. If you can't trust those you care for, who can you trust?"

Ben shrugged. "I guess so," He said. "It's not as if it really matters anymore..."

There was another long silence.

"Tell me," Ben said after a long moment. "If...she were still alive...would we...COULD we have been able to...you know, work it out?"

Aster smiled sadly. "Ben-kun, if there's one thing I've learned from reading years of shojo manga, it's that if you're truly in love, and you're willing to make it work, nothing, and I mean nothing, can stand in the way."

Ben stared into his bowl for a long moment.

"Thanks, Aster." He said, getting to his feet. "I haven't really been able to talk to anybody about this, so..."

Aster smiled.

"Say," Ben said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Do you think you could, you know, not mention this to anyone? I'd rather not this got out."

"Well, if Tash-san or Adrian-kun asks, I'll have to tell them, you know that, right?"

Ben nodded unhappily.

"But I doubt they will, so..."

Ben nodded. "Ok, thanks, Aster."

"Any time!~" Aster said as Ben walked out, but he didn't hear her. His mind was on something else. He doubted anyone in particular would be up yet, so if he was going to do it, now was the time.

It was finally time for Ben and Bella to meet again.

* * *

Bella gathered up her things as the last bell of the day rang. She had made friends at the high school Ben created for her. Real Friends. There had been some rough starts at first when people weren't attracted to her naturally, but everything had worked out in the end.

As she shoved her green gel pens into her jade messenger bag, the intercom buzzed.

"Bella Aubrey, please report to the office. Bella Aubrey to the office, please."

Bella frowned as she straightened up. Was she in trouble? She didn't recall doing anything. Maybe she offended or insulted someone and didn't realize it. That was always possible, things like that were never an issue when she wasn't surpressing her powers.

Bella slung her the bag strap over the shoulder and headed for the office.

"Did you want to see me?" She asked the secretary, an emanciated old woman with a prunish appearance.

"You've got someone here to see you." The woman said in a voice that clearly indicated she'd smoked too much over the years.

"Who?" Bella asked. Unless Ben created a new character, she doubted anyone could find their world. No one besides--

The secretary pointed behind her.

Bella whirled.

"Ben?"

Ben gave her a nervous grin. "How's it going?"

"What're you doing here?" Bella exclaimed.

Ben took a deep breath.

"I just...I wanted to see you again." He said, meeting Bella's eye.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment. Then, Bella took Ben's hand in her own.

Ben smiled at Bella who returned the gesture, noting the slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"You wanna take a walk?"

* * *

"...So then Doug and I got stuck on cleaning duty for like, a month." Ben finished as he and Bella walked around the outside of the school.

"Seriously?" Bella asked.

Ben nodded as the Sue laughed.

The two of them turned a corner into a small hidden garden. Various flowers and plants clustered around a stone bench and a small fountain gurgled and trickled around the edge.

The two of them sat down on the bench, still holding hands.

"This place is so beautiful," Bella murmured. "When I first saw it, I could hardly believe someone like you made it..."

Ben chuckled. "Most people are surprised when they see this side of me."

"Oh!" Bella exclaimed, realizing what she'd said. "I just insulted you, didn't I? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Ben laughed. "It's alright, don't worry about it."

Bella covered her face with her hands. "People hated me when I first showed up here, because I kept on saying such mean things to them. I didn't even realize what I was doing at first!"

"But you learned, didn't you?" Ben asked bracingly.

Bella nodded unhappily. "It took a long time though. I never realized being normal was such hard work."

"Well, that's half the point!" Ben said. "All those thing's you've been talking about? That's called making mistakes, and best of all, you've learned from them, which makes you smarter than about 90% of mankind!"

Bella laughed and smiled at him. "Thanks. So how're things going back at the Society?" She asked.

Ben shrugged. "So far so good. Nothing too abnormal going on lately."

"But that's a relative term given the Society, right?" Bella giggled.

Ben laughed. "True. So, what about you?"

Bella shrugged. "Same here." She said. "Like I said, I did have a little trouble at first when I couldn`t use my powers, but everything`s worked out."

"I'm glad" Ben said, giving her hand a squeeze.

"It's strange," Bella said slowly. "The very first time I lost at something to someone else, I found myself being happy for them, rather than resenting them...It was a nice feeling..."

"Sounds to me like you're learning how to be human." Ben said.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Bella said, looking over at Ben.

The Mary-Sue and Society Agent looked at each other for a long moment.

"Why did you want to see me?" Bella asked at last. "It must've risky for you to come and visit me here."

Ben took another deep breath. "When I got back to the Library after our battle, I told everyone you were dead." He began. "But there was one Agent who guessed what happened to us. She still thinks you're dead though." Ben assured Bella, noticing the look on her face. "But...we talked a little and I got to thinking."

Ben put his other hand over Bella's own.

"Listen to me, do you really want to make this work?" He asked.

"Make what work?" Bella asked.

Ben gestured around. "This. Us. Do you want to be together?"

Bella bit her lip. "I..."

"I already know you do, I just need to hear you say it."

"But, you're from the Society!" Bella protested. "I'm a Sue!"

"I never said it would be easy." Ben conceded. "It's going to take a lot of work. But I'm willing to do what it takes."

"But what about your superiors? Your friends?"

"We'll figure something out. You know as well as I do that this is only a temporary hiding place. We were going to have to face this eventually."

Bella looked away, staring at the flowers surrounding them, but Ben gently turned her face back towards him.

"I'd much rather face what the future holds with you, than without." He murmured gently, staring into her sparkling green eyes.

Bella swallowed, looking back into Ben's eyes. What was this? She'd never felt like this before. It scared her, but at the same time, she liked it.

Neither said anything for a long moment. Then, they gently moved closer to each other, their lips slowly drawing nearer. Ben could feel Bella's cool breath on his lips. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes--

"Awww...how sweet." A voice snickered.

Ben and Bella broke apart from each other as if they were magnetized.

"Where--?" Ben sputtered.

"Up here."

Both turned to see Neb, leaning out of a window above the two, leering at them.

Before either could move or think, the leather-clad Protection Agent leapt from the window, plummeting towards them.

Instinctively, Ben grabbed Bella's and and pulled her out of the way.

Neb crashed to the ground, landing on the stone bench and snapping it in two. Without missing a beat, he grabbed one of the huge stone chunks and hurled it at the two.

Bella raised a hand from where she and Ben lay on the ground and fired a beam of emerald energy, smashing the rock to pieces.

Neb snarled and started forward, as the two struggled to their feet, but Ben struck first.

"My coffeemakers are not controlled by Hoover Dam computers!" He barked, thrusting an arm towards his doppelganger.

Neb's eyes widened as Ben grabbed Bella's hand again and pulled her out of the way. The floodgates materialized, issuing forth a flood of java.

Meanwhile Ben and Bella dashed back into the school through a side door.

"How'd he find us here?" Bella panted as they sprinted down a hallway.

"It's Neb!" Ben replied. "He tracked me down in Pendragon, who knows how he does it?"

As they ran Ben noticed in the corner of his mind that Bella was keeping up just fine. All those merry chases he lead her on when they were on opposite sides must've made her a better runner. One corner of his mouth quirked in a smile as he ran.

Suddenly, as they turned a corner Ekard appeared out of nowhere, right in front of them.

Ben skidded to a stop, already raising his hand, his mouth forming the first syllables of an attack, but Ekard struck first, driving an armored fist deep into Ben's gut.

Ben's eyes bugged out and he slumped to his knees gasping for air.

Bella screamed, but Ekard silenced her with a forceful backhanded slap to the face, sending her flying into the wall.

Neb came running up, his jacket still dripping coffee. "What took you so long?" He rasped.

"Screw you." Ekard snorted. "You're the one who let them get away."

He glanced down at Ben who was starting to stir and planted a boot on his back, grinding him into the linoleum.

Neb grabbed Bella from where she lay slumped against the wall and hauled her to her feet.

"What's wrong?" Neb snickered, "Scared?"

Bella responded by blasting him full in the face with another beam of energy.

Neb was knocked backwards, and Bella turned to run, but Ekard lashed out with his foot, knocking her down. Before she could move, Ekard struck her sharply in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious.

"Geez, man, get it together, would ya?" He sneered at Neb as he got to his feet.

Neb stalked over and slung the unconscious Bella over his shoulder like a sack of grain. "Geez," He grumbled. "For a Mary-Sue, she sure is a panty-waist."

"...Let her go..." Ben reached out from where he lay on the floor and grabbed Neb's leg.

Ekard hauled back and kicked Ben in the face as hard as he could, snapping Ben's head to one side.

Neb turned back to his counterpart. "Oh, I'll let her go alright." He rasped, as blood began to pour from Ben's nose.

"But you've got to do something for me first. We've got a man of our own about to enter the Society soon as an Agent, so he can feed us information from the inside. He'll contact you and you help him with whatever he needs done. If he says to kill someone, you do it! Otherwise, we'll kill your little girlfriend here."

Ben growled and tried to get up, but Ekard planted his foot on his back again, shoving him back down.

Neb turned and opened a plothole.

"Neb!" Ben barked. "Turn around!"

Neb turned slowly, the lenses of his sunglasses staring at Ben impassively.

"I'm going to say this slowly." Ben said, enunciating. "Because I want you to understand me."

He took a deep breath.

"You can run but never hide. I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb. Nothing shall remain, not your memory or name, it will be as though you've never, ever lived."

Neb snorted. "That would've been a lot more impressive if I didn't think those weren't the lyrics to some metal song."

Ben didn't reply, just continued to glare at Neb. For some reason, the gaze made Neb uneasy. He nodded to Ekard.

Ben felt a sharp pain, then everything went black.

* * *

**Well, since this is a 'Season finale' and I'm not gonna be writing any more Society fics for a while, I've decided to go all out on this one. Each of the chapters will be named after various Heavy Metal songs. This chapter's title came to you courtesy of Iron Maiden.**


	2. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: The Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about!**

**(Any appearing members of the Society belong to their respective authors)**

**Chapter 2: Sweating Bullets**

**Well, I must say, I had high hopes for this story, but I was blown away by the response I've received. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed! (And those of you who didn't...Shirley knows where you sleep...)**

**Many thanks to Aster for Beta-ing this for me!**

* * *

Ben groaned and cracked open one eyelid. He slammed it shut again almost immediately. The light hurt almost as much as any given mauling by Shirley.

He lay there for a moment longer, trying to ignore the pain. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he shot up.

"Bella!" He shouted desperately.

He was still lying on the ground in the hall where Ekard had ambushed them.

Ben looked around wildly, but it was far to late. Neb and Ekard had already vanished, taking Bella with them.

Ben hauled himself to his feet, groaning. His stomach and head still ached from where Ekard had hit him. He moaned and leaned up against one of the rows of lockers. What was he going to do? Knowing Neb he wouldn't hesitate to kill Bella given the slightest provocation. And just how exactly had Neb found this world? Ben hadn't told anybody about it, and had Bella used her powers, the Society would have found the place long before Neb. Questions: Many. Answers: Zip.

Ben slammed a fist against the lockers in frustration, the metallic sound crashing through the abandoned hallway. Why couldn't he have been faster? Or smarter? Maybe if he went for a physical attack rather than one of his powers he might've been able to catch Ekard off guard. Maybe with both Bella and himself, the could've held Drake's twin off and gotten away...and maybe Shirley would become a nun.

Ben sighed. Sitting here feeling sorry for himself wouldn't help Bella at all. He pulled his generator from it's holster and opened a plothole.

Neb had said that a spy from the Pro-Cliche Society would be entering the Anti-Cliche Society soon and Ben was to obey them. But if Mr. Leather-Fetish honestly thought he was going to roll over and play slave to this guy, he was sorely mistaken. He was going to have a long chat with this person when they showed up...

* * *

Bella jerked awake. She looked around disoriented for a second, before realizing she was blindfolded. Her head was still throbbing painfully. She tried to move, to pull the blindfold off but her arms and legs were bound. She'd been gagged too and her mouth was dry. She was sitting flat on something, tied to something else rough, that was all she could tell. She hoped Ben was alright, had he been captured too?

"...can't believe it took you so long to catch one Mary-Sue and an unarmed Agent."

People were talking.

"Hey, why don't you shut it before I shove a nuke up you--"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please. There's no need to be unpleasant."

"Whatever."

"You sure this thing'll work? Ben might be a little thick, but what if the Librarian figures out what's going on?"

It seemed Ben was safe then, Bella sighed with relief. But just what was going on here? What did these people want with them?

"Don't worry my friends, so long as we have his lady, Ben will be absolutely no trouble at all, I can guarantee that."

So that was it. Bella was being used as a bargaining chip to ensure Ben's cooperation.

_Don't worry about me, Ben!_ Bella thought, trying to shift to a more comfortable position. _Just do what you have to and stop these guys!_

"Ah, speak of the devil, it appears our guest is waking up!"

There was the sound of footsteps and the blindfold was removed.

Bella blinked, trying to refocus her eyes.

"Water?" The vague form in front of her offered.

Bella blinked a few more times waiting for her eyes to fix themselves. They were somewhere dark, that much she could tell.

They suddenly adjusted.

Bella's eyes widened.

* * *

Ben exited the plothole still deep in thought. Neb hadn't said exactly when this double-agent was supposed to enter the Society, so chances were he had a little time. The first thing he needed to do was--

"Oh my god, Ben! What happened to you?"

"Huh?" Ben turned at Tash's gasp to see the blonde leader hurrying towards him, a horrified expression on her face.

"Your nose!" Tash exclaimed.

Ben swore mentally. He was so concerned over Bella's plight, he'd forgotten about the nosebleed Ekard had given him.

Internally cursing the Protection Society Agent, Ben grinned weakly.

"Oh, it's not that bad," He said, trying to sound casual. "I...uh, just ran into a wall is all."

"Not that bad, my foot!" Tash exclaimed, grabbing Ben's head, holding it still so she could get a better look. "You should

see yourself! You look horrible, you're all pale!"

"I'm fine!" Ben insisted, trying to pull his head free. Tash let him go, but she still looked concerned.

"I at least want you to go see Valerie about that." She said firmly.

Ben groaned internally. The last thing he needed was contact with the empath right now. Maybe after he'd calmed down a bit it'd be all right, but at the moment he was too wound-up.

He started to protest, but Tash cut him off. "That's an order." She said, letting a small edge creep into her voice.

Ben sighed. "All right..."

* * *

Valerie looked up from her reading as Ben walked into the Hospital Wing.

"Oh, hi, Ben! What can do for you?" Then she spotted the trail of blood oozing from his nose "Never mind," She said as she marked her place in her book and got up. "Have a seat on that bed there."

Ben sat down as the healer wet a cloth with warm water and walked over.

"What did you do to yourself?" Valerie asked as she dabbed at the blood. "Did you set off one of Adrian's traps?"

"No, I ran into a wall." Ben muttered, not meeting her eye.

"Hmmm..." Valerie finished mopping up the blood around Ben's nose. "Is your nose broken?" She asked, prodding it gently.

"I don't think so--OW!"

"Mmmm...Not broken." Valerie murmured. "Just tender."

She frowned. Ben claimed he'd run head-first into a wall, but the shape of the bruises around his nose looked more like he'd been kicked by someone wearing boots.

She closed her eyes and placed two fingers on the bridge of Ben's nose. Slowly, the ache faded away until it vanished.

Ben rubbed his now-healed nose gingerly. "Thanks."

Valerie looked at Ben as he stood. She could sense a whirlwind of emotions from guitarist. Anger, fear, frustration and worry all competed for dominance in his heart.

"Is every thing OK?" She asked.

"Fine." Ben said shortly.

"Don't lie to me." Valerie said gently. "I'm an empath, remember? I can sense your emotions. C'mon, talk to me, there must

be something I can help you with?"

Ben shook his head as he headed for the door. "No. There's nothing anybody can do. Nobody besides me."

* * *

The day after Bella's kidnapping Ben lay sprawled across a couch, earbuds firmly in his ears, volume cranked up at maximum. A thousand and one plans for Bella's rescue whirled through his brain, each rejected more quickly than the last.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He had had trouble getting to sleep last night. Only the exhaustion from being up all night before had forced him to succumb.

No matter how he looked at it, there was only one answer. He had to wait until this double-agent Neb spoke of joined the Society. That was his only clue to Bella. Until then, all he could do was wait.

"Ah, there you are!"

Ben looked up. "Oh, hey, Tash." He said sullenly.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Ben admitted. "Valerie fixed me right up."

"That's good." Tash said, looking around. "Where's Shirley? I haven't heard you screaming or running for a while."

Even Ben was forced to crack a small smile at that. "She's still back at the mansion, working on the repairs. After what happened in Mega Man, I doubt she's taking any more chances."

"I'll bet. Oh, I almost forgot!" Tash snapped her fingers. "We've just had a new recruit join the Society."

Ben's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed. "Really?" He asked slowly. _The traitor?_

"You can come in now!" Tash called over her shoulder and a new figure walked in.

He was mid-sized and wiry with dirty blonde hair. His narrow eyes glittered with interest as he observed Ben. There was a smile on his face, but there was a trace of ice in his eyes.

"This is Repiv. Repiv, Ben." Tash introduced the two. "Since he's new here, I was hoping you wouldn't mind showing him around the Library a little, Ben."

Ben returned the predatory grin. "Oh, believe me," He said slowly. "It would be my pleasure."

Repiv didn't bat an eye.

* * *

Ben grabbed a fistful of Repiv's shirt and slammed him up against a bookshelf. Ben had led him back into the reference book section where nobody was likely to encounter them.

"Talk." Ben snarled. "Where's Bella? What've you done with her?"

Repiv snorted. "And what makes you think I'd tell you that?"

"This does." Ben snarled, pulling back a fist to punch Repiv in the face. Suddenly, there was a blur of motion and Ben found himself looking into the hissing face of a red-eyed albino snake wrapped around his arm.

"I'd let go of me if I were you." Repiv smirked. "Carl doesn't take too kindly to people threatening me."

Ben gave the traitor another shove for good measure before letting go. Carl slithered off his arm and around Repiv's neck where he settled, tongue flicking in and out.

"Fine. What do you want?" Ben growled.

"Oh, I'll let you know when the time comes." Repiv said, stroking Carl's head idly. "Until then, be a good little boy and stay out of my way."

"I'll kill you." Ben threatened.

"I don't think so." Repiv brushed him off. "Firstly, I doubt our dear Tash and your other friends would take too kindly to that. Secondly, if you do, you sever any chance of seeing Bella again."

Ben growled.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Repiv waved a finger. "I'm not finished talking yet. Thirdly, if I don't report in when I'm supposed to, our pals in the other Society will know something's happened to me and will end up bumping Bella off anyway."

Ben's hands curled into fists and took a step forward.

"What's going on here?" Ben and Repiv turned to see Shirley trotting down the row towards them.

Ben scowled. "When'd you get back?"

The Cliche Stick put her hands on her hips. "Nice to see you too, jerk."

"So you're Shirley." Repiv said. "I've heard a good deal about you!"

"Back off." Ben snarled.

Repiv raised his palms in a conciliatory gesture. "Hey, all I'm doing is saying hello!"

Shirley scowled at Ben. "What's wrong with you?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Ben said. And with that, he spun on his heel and stalked away. Shirley gave one last backwards glance at Repiv before following.

Repiv may not have realized it, but he had given away a very vital clue. He was still in contact with his Pro-Cliche superiors. And if he had some way to contact them, there was some way to trace them.

* * *

Repiv chuckled to himself quietly as Ben stormed off. Far too easy. Now that Ben was out of the way, he could get back to his mission.

He slipped through the Library quietly, slipping into the shadows when anyone passed.

Finally, he found the set of stairs he was looking for. With one last furtive glance to make sure nobody was around, he

slipped down the stairs. The staircase was rather long and by the time he got to the bottom Repiv was panting slightly. He squinted in the dim light.

There in the shadows was his target. The Vault of Things Man Was Not Meant to Know.

Repiv stepped off the last stair and started towards the door, studying it closely. He briefly wondered if it was possible to blow it open when a voice spoke behind him.

"Who are you?"

Repiv jumped, turning to find a tall boy with white hair standing behind him, a bare sword in his hand.

"Geez." He said as Carl hissed at the newcomer, putting a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "You startled me. I'm Repiv, this is Carl." He gestured to the snake around his neck. "I just joined up today. And you are...?"

"I'm Adrian. What are you doing down here? This area is off limits."

Repiv narrowed his eyes. So this was the infamous Librarian... "Oh, sorry, I didn't know." He said sheepishly. "I was just looking around and I found myself down here."

Adrian frowned. "Shouldn't someone have been assigned to show you around?"

Repiv bit his lip. "Yeah, but Ben kinda...wandered off..."

Adrian nodded, sheathing his sword. "I see. After you." He said, standing aside and gesturing at the stairs.

Repiv cursed himself as he walked back up the staircase. He could feel the Librarian's suspicious gaze burning a hole into his back. He shouldn't have been so careless. Now it was going to be harder than ever to get into the Vault. Oh well, he had time. And with Ben's help he doubted anyone would ever know...

* * *

Tash sat at the kitchen table, finishing the last few pages of a stack of paperwork and sipping a cup of hot tea.

"How's business, Tash?" Valerie greeted as she walked in.

Tash looked up. "Not too bad. Tea?" She offered.

Valerie nodded and sat down as Tash stood and poured hot water into a mug.

"What's this for?" Valerie asked as she picked up a half-finished sheet of paperwork.

Tash looked over her shoulder as she made the tea. "Oh, that? A new member just joined the Society."

"Really?" Valerie glanced back at the paper. "His name's Repiv, huh?"

Tash nodded. "I assigned Ben to show him around and take him on his training mission in a few days."

Valerie nodded her thanks as Tash came back with the cup and handed it to her. She took a sip, frowning. "Have you talked to Ben lately?" She asked.

Tash shrugged. "Well, I introduced Repiv to him earlier and I sent him to you when he showed up yesterday with that awful nosebleed."

"Did he seem...strange?"

Tash thought for a moment. "Well, he did seem a little distracted earlier and he didn't really want to see you about the nosebleed until I ordered him to, why?"

"He was very upset when I spoke with him." Valerie confided. "He wouldn't even look at me."

"Really?"

Valerie nodded. "I haven't seen him this troubled since he killed Bella."

Tash rested her chin on her fist. "I wonder if there's anything we can do to help?"

Valerie shook her head. "He wouldn't tell me what was going on, even when I straight-out asked him."

"I see. I guess we've just got to let him deal with whatever it is he's dealing with." Tash sighed. "But I'll keep an eye on him anyway."

"Good idea."

* * *

It was a few days later. Ben paced back and forth, wearing a groove in the floor in the Science Fiction section. His brain was working overtime. So Repiv was still in contact with his superiors, that was both good and bad. On the one hand it meant that the slightest transgression on Ben's part would be instantly reported back to Neb and that would be the end of Bella. But conversely, it meant that there were clues to be found. If Ben could just figure out where they were keeping Bella, he'd fall upon them with the fury of an ocean.

"Hey, Ben!"

Ben looked up from his musings to see Adrian walking up.

"Have you seen Repiv around?" The Librarian asked.

Ben shook his head. "Not lately."

Adrian frowned and folded his arms. "He's been vanishing a lot lately."

Ben nodded. "Yeah, I noticed."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "You did? Then why didn't you ask him where he was going? You're supposed to be in charge of him, until he completes his training mission, remember?"

_Because he's a traitor and if I don't submit to his demands Neb's gonna kill the girl I care for who just so happens to be one of our enemies who I was ordered to capture but instead I helped to escape. That's why._

Outwardly Ben shrugged. "I mean to, but it kept on slipping my mind."

Adrian shot Ben a piercing look. "Hmm...well, when he get's back tell him to stop slipping off. Keep a closer eye on him too. I found him at the Vault of Things Man Was not Meant to Know the other day, and there's a reason we named it that."

Ben's eyes narrowed. _The Vault, huh?_ "I will." He assured the Librarian.

"And report to Tash once you find him," Adrian added, turning to leave. "We've got his training mission lined up."

Ben nodded and headed off in search of Repiv.

He found both him and Shirley at the kitchen table, laughing like old friends, Carl curled up on the tabletop.

"There you are!" Ben hissed, stalking towards the two. "Where've you been?"

Repiv looked up. "Shirley was just telling me some stories about you." He chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Were you really almost sold to a Chinese sweatshop once?"

Ben blushed and looked away. "Shirley..." He growled. "I thought I told you never to mention that!"

"Oh, come on, Ben!" Shirley smirked. "If it weren't for me, you'd be making Panasonic DVD players for 15 cents an hour!"

Ben blushed even deeper. "Whatever." He gritted out, turning back to Repiv. "Adrian's been looking everywhere for you, you know. They've found someone for your training mission."

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Repiv demanded, Carl sliding back up his arm to his usual position around his neck as he stood. "Let's go!"

"You need to stop slipping off like that or you'll get both of us in trouble!" Ben muttered as he fell instep beside the traitor, Shirley following behind.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Ben." Repiv smirked. "I was just checking in with some old friends."

Ben shot Repiv a look. "Oh, really?" He asked, trying to sound casual. With Shirley around he couldn't exactly ask Repiv straight out.

"Oh, by the way, your girlfriend said to tell you hello." Repiv snickered.

Ben's eyes widened.

"Old girlfriend?" Shirley asked darkly. "Ben, have you been sneaking around behind my back?"

Ben chuckled weakly. "Umm...no?"

Shirley didn't reply, but she gave Ben a hard look.

"So...you went to visit them?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, I told you I would be." Repiv said off-handedly.

_Yeah, but I didn't think you'd be doing it in person! That's the worst possible way!_

Up until then, Ben had been assuming Repiv communicated with his superiors via communicator or something, if that was the case, Ben could just eavesdrop on their conversations and pick up some clues on where Neb and the rest were hiding. But since Repiv went in person it would be next to impossible to trace, not to mention it was risky on Repiv's part, his absences were too easily noticed.

Ben grimaced. If he really was going to track Neb and Bella down, he'd have to--

"Everything alright?"

"Huh?"

Tash looked at Ben exasperatedly. "I just finished telling you what you need to do. You remember everything?"

Ben cursed himself. He'd been so deep in thought he'd daydreamed clear through the entire mission breifing.

"O-Oh, yeah, I got it." He stuttered.

"You sure you're OK, Ben?" Repiv asked, a false look of concern on his face. "If I'm gonna get through this in one piece, I'm gonna need your help!"

Ben set his jaw, ignoring Repiv's taunts. "I'm fine." He gritted, firing his plothole generator.

Tash watched the two jump into the portal, Shirley in tow. She turned away as it closed. _Time to take care of some business..._

* * *

Tash knocked on the door to Camille's tech lab, prompting a symphony of shouts, crashes, a few minor explosions and what sounded a cat yowling.

Camille opened the door, hair smoking. "Yeah?" She panted.

Tash stared, wide-eyed. "Um...you ok?" She asked."

"Oh, yeah." Camille turned to look over her shoulder. "Hey, Doyle! Watch out for that glycerin on the edge of the table!"

Tash gulped as the tech turned back. "What can I do for you?" She asked.

Tash blinked once before remembering the purpose of her visit. "Are you still working on Bahamut?"

"Yeah, I'm almost finished, why?"

"I need a favor from you..."

* * *

Ben staggered out of the plothole. He bent over, gasping for breath as sweat poured off his brow.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He demanded.

"I'm sorry." Repiv said mildly as he emerged from the rift, an innocent expression on his face. "It's my first mission..."

"Don't give me that!" Ben panted. "I told you to hang back! We could've ambushed that Stu and captured him before he knew what hit him. But no! You had to charge in screaming like a maniac and give us away! If I hadn't nuked those boulders when I did we'd be pancakes right now! Do you have any clue how hard it is to nuke a moving target?" Ben barked, grabbing Repiv's shirt. "If not for you, we might've captured the guy!"

"Geez, Ben, go easy on him!" Shirley said, emerging from the plothole as it closed. "You made some pretty bone-headed moves when you were first starting out too!"

"Shut up."

"What did you say?"

"I said shut up!" Ben roared, grabbing Shirley and yanking her up to his eye level. "I've had it with you nit-picking at every single thing I do! I can't get a single moments peace without you constantly harping on this or that! Now shut up and leave me alone before I nuke you!"

Shirley stared into Ben's eyes, too shocked to be angry. Ben had never spoken to her, or anyone for that matter, like that before.

Ben noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and looked around. It was only then that he realized he'd blown up right in the middle of the common area.

Tyler was frozen in mid-step, staring at him wide eyed. Drake was leaning back in his chair as if he'd been physically pushed back by Ben's rage. Aster was reading yet another manga, totally oblivious to anything else.

Ben put Shirley down, spun on his heel and stalked off.

"Watch it!" He barked as Pete bumped into him in the doorway.

"Sorry." Pete muttered, shooting the retreating Ben a glance.

"Sorry you guys had to see that." Repiv mumbled, eyes downcast.

"Don't worry about it." Drake said. "Ben's been acting pretty weird lately."

"I wonder what's eating him?" Tyler asked.

"Beat's me."

Aster looked up from her book. "Kyaa~? Did I miss something?" Everyone ignored her.

Shirley stared blankly after Ben, stunned.

"Don't worry about it." Tyler said to Repiv, bracingly. "There's not many people who catch their target first mission out. C'mon, know a way past one of Adrian's traps. Feel like some Oreos?"

Repiv shook his head, the very picture of dejection. "Thanks guys, but I think I'd just like to be alone for a while." He mumbled, but he was smiling as he turned away.

_Now's my chance to get another crack at the Vault...  
_

* * *

Ben flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt bad for yelling at Shirley, it wasn't her fault. He'd just been so wound up lately over Bella. He'd have to apologize to his muse later.

Ben sighed. What was he going to do? Bella could very well already be dead for all he knew. Neb and Repiv could very well be stringing him along for all he knew. Just what were they up to anyway? Repiv hadn't done anything so far other than bungle missions and mock Ben constantly.

What if worst came to worst and the rest of the Society found out? They'd probably think he'd betrayed them, which, he had. What if he ended up having to fight his friends? He was reasonably certain he could hold his own against Tyler and maybe Drake. Marcus would be a problem with his ability to split himself in half, but for the fact he disliked violence. Doug and Christoph would be a handful, what with them being fully trained warriors. Aster would definitely be too much for him in her fae form. He'd probably lose to Tash too, not to mention Michael.

One thing was for sure, though, he didn't want to go up against Adrian. The Librarian would totally destroy him, then use his mangled carcass to mop up his own blood. And what about Shirley? Whose side would his muse be on? He doubted she'd believe anything he said, especially after how he treated her earlier, not to mention everything he'd kept from her.

Maybe it didn't have to end in violence. What if he just told the leaders of the Society what was going on? Ben rubbed his eyes. That wouldn't work. Oh, sure they might capture or kill Repiv, but the end result would be the same. They would either leave Bella to die at Neb's hands, or they'd mount an assault, capture her and throw her in jail. And as Ben had already decided, either was unacceptable.

A knock at the door snapped Ben out of his thoughts.

"Go away." He moaned, he wasn't in the mood to deal with people right now.

"It's me." It was Doyle. "Camille has news for you."

Ben sat up.

"She's fixed Bahamut."

* * *

Camille was glaring at a clipboard when Ben walked in. "Everything OK?" He asked.

Camille looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah, we've just had a couple of Plothole Generators go missing is all."

She set the clipboard down on a workbench and led Ben over to a table.

Bahamut lay gleaming on the tabletop, good as new. Better in fact, since Camille had given it a fresh polish.

"She looks good." Ben said admiringly, picking his weapon-instrument up and stroking it fondly.

"Take better care of it this time. I don't want to have to go through this again." Camille growled. "It took me forever to piece it back together, and it nearly blew up in my face twice when I was working on it."

Ben chuckled weakly.

"But with some of the new features I've included, that shouldn't be an issue."

Ben slung Bahamut over his shoulder, neck pointing down and to the right as always. "What new features?" He frowned.

"I'm getting to that." Camille took a deep breath and started to explain.

By the time she'd finished Ben was grinning. Maybe he would be able to take Adrian on after all...

* * *

Repiv was leaning against the wall when Ben came out of the tech lab.

"I see you've got your little toy twanger back." He sneered.

Ben turned, the smile vanishing instantly.

"Quiet you." He growled. "I know you bungled that mission on purpose."

Repiv shrugged, Carl winding and re-winding himself around his neck. "What did you expect? I'm from the Mary-Sue Protection Society, remember?"

Ben narrowed his eyes, one hand dropping down to grasp Bahamut's fretboard. "I could kill you, remember?"

Repiv rolled his eyes. "We've been over this already." He sighed. "You kill me, they kill Bella."

He pushed himself off from the wall. "C'mon," He said, "There's something I need your help with." He turned and walked off.

Ben gave a long look at Repiv's departing back, before starting after the traitor. If nothing else, his cooperation would buy both him and Bella a little more time.

Repiv lead him down into to the Vault and pointed at the reinforced door. "Nuke it." He said.

Ben frowned. "Why?"

Repiv rolled his eyes. "Because I think it would look lovely mounted over my fireplace mantle."

Ben glared at him.

"I want in, why else?" Repiv returned the glare. "It really isn't really that difficult to figure out."

Ben ignored that last comment and turned back to the Vault door. "Won't someone hear the explosion and investigate?"

Repiv rolled his eyes. "With the amount of nuking you do, I doubt anyone will pay attention. Besides, I know you can contain the size of your blasts. All I need is a localized explosion, now get a move on!"

Ben slowly raised a hand. There was no going back after this. _Forgive me, everyone..._

He took a deep breath. "Don't mess with--"

"What're you doing?" Ben and Repiv whirled. There was a young girl with light brown hair on the stairs, peering at them curiously.

"E-Emily! What're you doing down here?" Ben sputtered.

"I saw the door open and wondered if someone was down here." She frowned. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." Ben was getting alarmed. Repiv just rolled his eyes and sighed. Things were going south fast.

"Yes, you were." Emily said, accusingly. "You were trying to break into the Vault, weren't you!"

"N-no!"

"I'm telling!" Emily turned and started to run back up the stairs, but Repiv was faster. In a flash, he unwound Carl from around his neck and hurled the snake at the fleeing girl. The snake wove itself in between her legs and she fell.

Repiv was over her before she could move. Emily started to scream as Repiv yanked her to her feet, but he quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling her cries.

"Forget the nukes, someone will have heard_ that_." He growled, dragging a struggling Emily back down the stairs.

Carl slithered up her leg and around her neck, pressing his fangs onto her artery.

"Make another sound," Repiv murmured into Emily's ear, "And Carl presses down just a little harder and you'll be dead before you can take another breath."

Emily didn't move, just stood there, petrified with fear.

Repiv jerked a head towards the stairs. "Get up there." He growled.

"What?" Ben asked blankly. All he could think was that it was all over. Neb would undoubtedly kill Bella, and if the rest of the Society didn't kill him, he'd be thrown in the jail with the Sues!

"I said, get up those stairs and warn everyone!" Repiv snarled. "Play the good guy and cover me if you have to! Now move!"

Ben turned and dashed up the stairs two at a time, nearly barreling straight into Charis at the top.

"Woah!" Charis staggered back. "What's going on?"

"Where's Tash? Or Adrian?" Ben gasped.

Charis blinked. "I saw them that way." She pointed behind her. "Is everything OK?"

"C'mon!" Ben growled, sprinting off again.

"Wait up!" Charis called, following.

Ben burst into one of the common areas to find Tash reading a book. A purring Adrian had his head in her lap and she was stroking his ears absentmindedly.

"Tash!" Ben gasped, bent double for breath.

Tash's head snapped up. "What's going on?" She asked, her hand ceasing it's ministrations of Adrian's kitty ears, causing the Librarian to meow in protest.

"Repiv...me and Emily...found him trying....to break into the Vault...Things Man was not Meant...to Know...." Ben sputtered out, still straining for breath.

"Where's Emily?" Adrian asked, having snapped out his stupor instantly upon hearing the news.

"Repiv's...got her."

The two leaders shot to their feet and raced off, Ben and Charis close behind.

"Charis!" Tash ordered. "Find everyone else and fill them in on what's going on!"

Charis nodded and veered off.

"Kyaa~~? What's going on?" Aster asked as they rounded a bend.

"Hostage situation!" Tash called over her shoulder.

"Wait for me!" Aster called, joining the chase.

When the reached the stairs to the Vault, there was already a small group gathering.

"Wait here!" Tash commanded, "You all," She pointed at Shirley, Ben, Drake, Aster and Tyler, "Come on!" And with that, they barreled down the stairs.

"Listen, Shirley," Ben panted as they descended the staircase. "About earlier--?"

"Save it." Shirley snapped. "We'll talk later."

_There may not be a later!_ Ben shouted mentally, but he nodded nonetheless.

Repiv didn't appear to have moved at all, one arm still wrapped around Emily's head, trapping her in a headlock.

"That's far enough!" He said in a harshly. "Take another step and she get's it!"

Everyone froze.

"Let her go!" Tash ordered.

"I don't think so." Repiv scoffed.

"Why are you doing this?" Adrian asked quietly.

"You fools never got it, did you?" Repiv sneered. "All this time, and you never realized who I was! You really are idiots!"

"What are you talking about?" Ben demanded, keeping up the part of an innocent bystander.

Repiv rolled his eyes. "Think about it. What's my name?"

"Repiv." Tash said, confused. "Why?"

Repiv raised an eyebrow.

"Repiv, Rep...iv..." Tash repeated, then trailed off.

"Viper." Drake breathed.

"Exactly." Repiv hissed. "Need another clue?" With his free hand, he fished a card out of his pocket and held it up.

"Is that a Space Hammer card?" Shirley demanded. "You're with the Pro-Cliche and Mary-Sue Protection Society!"

"Duh." Repiv rolled his eyes as the card shifted into a knife, which he pressed into Emily's throat.

"You won't get away with this!" Drake threatened. Ben noticed his and Adrian's hands both subtly reaching for weapons.

"Oh, I think I will." Repiv cackled. "After all, we have people everywhere. Isn't that right...Ben?" He asked eyes glittering.

"Ben? What?" Shirley frowned. Everyone turned.

Ben stood to the side, staring at the floor, a single finger pointed straight at the rest.

"What are you doing, Ben?" Tash asked, her voice wavering, obviously caught off guard by this latest development.

"Come over here, Ben." Repiv commanded.

"Ben, wait!" Tyler called.

_This couldn't be real, could it?_

Ben walked over to stand beside the traitor slowly, keeping one finger on the group the entire time.

"How long has this been going on?" Adrian asked Ben in an icy voice.

"Oh, since before I joined up." Repiv said off handedly, which was technically true.

"But--you?" Tyler could only stare, his mouth hanging open.

Shirley didn't say anything. She just stared at her partner blankly, seemingly unable to take everything in at once.

"I'm sorry." Ben said sullenly.

Why?" Aster demanded. "Think about it! Be..." She gulped and caught over her words. "_She_ wouldn't want you to do this!"

"You don't understand!" Ben shouted. "I'm doing this for her! If I don't--"

"Ben!" Repiv barked warningly. "Just one more word..."

Ben closed his mouth, staring at the ground sullenly.

"What do you want?" Adrian asked calmly.

"Open it." Repiv commanded, nodding towards the Vault door. "And no funny business!"

Adrian nodded and with slow deliberate movements, made his way over to the Vault.

"Take her." Repiv commanded, tentatively releasing his hold on Emily's neck, Carl slithering back up his arm to his own neck.

Ben wrapped his own arm around Emily's throat as Repiv moved over to oversee Adrian's actions, remaining just out of reach.

"I'm really sorry about this." Ben whispered in Emily's ear as he kept one finger on the assembled agents.

Aster was staring off into nowhere. She seemed halfway between understanding and not - as if she was searching an encyclopedia of confusing symbols in her head. "How could you? She wouldn't want this..."

Ben met the fae's gaze levelly. "I don't care." He replied. "It doesn't matter."

"What's taking you so long?" Repiv snapped at Adrian. "You should've had it open by now!"

"Sorry," The Librarian muttered. "I haven't opened it for a while, the door's being pretty stubborn."

"Like hell it is." Repiv muttered, leaning over to get a better look.

That was when Christoph dropped out of the shadows onto his back.

Everything happened at once.

Repiv shouted in surprise and staggered from the weight, trying to toss the ninja off, but Christoph held on grimly.

He raised a sai, the blade gleaming in the dim light. But as he prepared to bring it down, Carl flew at his face, preparing to sink his fangs into his neck. Only Christoph's ninja reflexes saved him. With a cry he threw himself backwards, tossing both himself and Repiv to the ground as Carl flew past.

Repiv lashed out wildly as he fell, his foot catching Christoph in the face, snapping his head back and stunning him. Repiv ripped open a plothole as he scrambled to his feet and threw himself in as Adrian made a futile grab for the fleeing traitor. Carl followed after his owner an instant later.

Ben whirled, keeping one arm around Emily, nearly twisting her head off by accident, but Repiv had already gone and the plothole was already closing. Ben was frozen for a second. What should he do? Repiv was his only link to Bella!

Then Emily bit down on Ben's arm. Hard.

He roared in pain as blood began to well around the wound. "Go!" He hissed in the girl's ear as he shoved her forward into the group of agents. Tash moved to catch her, Emily's momentum pushing the two of them back into the rest of the group, dissolving them into chaos.

Christoph and Adrian charged at Ben from behind, but Ben snapped into the first few movements of the Fast-Step and the two overshot their target.

Ben leveled a palm at the group, along with a finger. "My coffeemakers are not controlled by Hoover Dam computers! Don't mess with nukes!"

Ben leapt backwards over the rising floodgates and vanished into the plothole a split-second before it closed.

Adrian whirled, just in time to catch a blast of coffee full in the face, as the floodgates emptied into the crowded room.

Tash wavered, but the crush of people in the room kept her upright. "Quick!" She shouted as the flood ebbed. "We've gotta get out of the--"

That was when the warhead detonated.

* * *

**BWAHAHAHAAAA! Cliffhanger! (I'd reccomend you get used to them.) XD**

**This chapter's title is by Megadeth.**


	3. Chapter III

**Disclaimer: The next statement is true. The previous statement is false**

**(Any appearing members of the Society belong to their respective authors)**

**Chapter 3: Heroes and Villans**

* * *

Time seemed to stand still as the warhead exploded.

Drake saw his entire life flash before his eyes.

Christoph sent a silent prayer of apology to Algzdun.

Aster mourned over all the manga she'd never read.

Emily closed her eyes and shrank back into Tash as the tendrils of flame reached out for her.

Tyler wondered what was for dinner.

Suddenly, the fire shifted into a condensed stream and began to blaze into a circle.

Tash stood, head down, staff planted in the ground, flames coiling around the staff like a snake before vanishing into the staff's tip.

"Nice going, Lady Tash!" Christoph said, picking himself up from the floor where he'd fallen after missing Ben.

Shirley hadn't moved an inch, she just continued to stare unseeingly at the place where Ben vanished.

"Is everyone all right?" Adrian barked, taking a quick headcount.

"I think so." Tash said, putting an arm around the trembling Emily.

"Wait! Where's--?"

Everyone turned to look at the Vault, but it was too late. Ben and Repiv had long since vanished.

Drake leaned up against a wall, running a hand through his hair. "Just what is going on here?"

"This isn't the place to talk about it." Adrian said. "Let's get upstairs."

* * *

Shirley trailed behind the rest as they climbed the long staircase. The Cliche Stick was stunned, confused and hurt. Had Ben really betrayed them? Why?

Her eyes narrowed. Come to think of it, Ben had been acting strange the past few days, she should've realized when he yelled at her earlier that something was up. But Ben had always shared everything with his muse, so why not this? Nothing made any sense.

Shirley was so lost in thought so failed to realize just how far she'd fallen behind everyone else, and didn't notice the figure approaching from behind.

"Having a bad day?"

Shirley turned, then froze.

"You..."

* * *

Subdued, the group trouped up the stairs to find the rest of the Society gathered around the doorway and instantly were assaulted by a barrage of questions.

"What's going on?"

"We heard an explosion."

"Where's Ben?"

"We'll talk in a minute." Adrian said, looking around. "This is something everyone needs to hear. Where's Jared and Chloe?"

"I sent them on a mission." Tash said, sending Emily with Karissa to go see Valerie to check her for injuries. "They should be back in a little while."

Adrian nodded. "Good. I want everyone to report to the briefing room immediately. We'll explain everything there."

As the speculating Agents hurried off, Adrian turned to Tash. "Is everything in place?"

"According to Camille it is."

"Good."

* * *

Everyone was already sitting and waiting for Adrian and Tash when they walked into the briefing room.

Adrian headed to the front of the room and looked around.

"Is everyone here?"

"We are now." Jared said, walking in the door, followed by Chloe.

"We heard the explosion," He grimaced as he eased himself onto a chair. "So, what did Ben nuke this time?"

Then he noticed how serious everyone looked.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked.

"Ben and Repiv are traitors." Adrian announced heavily. "Repiv was a member of the Pro-Cliche and Mary-Sue Protection Society, and they tried to break into the Vault of Things Man was not Meant to Know!"

There was a chorus of gasps and "What?"' as the assembled Agents quickly began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Are you serious?" Charis asked, her face pale.

"I'm afraid so." Said Adrian, looking grim.

"But that's impossible!" Jared exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He quickly regretted the action though.

"Why would he do something like that?" He winced at his injured ribs as he slowly sat back down in his chair, assisted by Chloe.

"We don't know why," Adrian said. "But that's what happened. Repiv tried to use Emily as a hostage to get me to open the Vault, and when things went south they both escaped."

Jared slumped back in his chair, stunned.

"I can't believe I didn't see this coming." Tash murmured. "I mean, all the signs were there and I didn't recognize them! Valerie even warned me there was something going on with him!"

"Don't beat yourself up too much" Adrian said, his eyes hard. "What Ben did was up to him. If he wanted to betray us, that's up to him."

"I don't think Ben has gone traitor, though!" Tash insisted.

"What?" Christoph scowled. "With all due respect, Lady Tash, Ben tried to nuke us!"

"But that's just it!" Tash insisted. "There wasn't enough power in that warhead to nuke a sandcastle! At the worst, we would've gotten our eyebrows singed!"

Drake shrugged. "Maybe he just didn't have time to summon a stronger nuke."

"I wish Doug were here." Tash sighed. "He and Ben got along pretty well, maybe he could've told us what was going on."

Adrian shrugged. "No matter. We're still going to have to operate on the assumption that Ben is a traitor. "

Adrian looked around. "Ben knows too many of our secrets to be left unchecked. We need to re-capture him before he can do any serious damage. I want Christoph, Drake and Aster to get ready, we're going after Ben and Repiv in ten minutes."

"Hey, I want to go!" Jared exclaimed. "Ben's my friend too you know!"

"And that's exactly why you shouldn't be going." Adrian said. "Your friendship could cloud your judgement if you end up having to fight him."

"But I could try to snap him out if I got the chance to talk to him." Jared insisted.

Chloe shook her head. "Adrian's right. And besides, with your ribs the way they are you couldn't fight. Not to mention your Boomhamer's still recharging."

Jared looked glum but nodded nonetheless.

"Just promise me you'll at least try to talk to Ben first." He pleaded.

Adrian nodded. "I promise."

He looked around the room again. "I want everyone I just mentioned to get ready for insertion in ten minutes! I'll lead the strike team to recapture Ben. Meanwhile, I want everyone else to remain on high alert! There's no telling what the Protection Society might try to do while we're still off-balance."

"Wait a second..." Tash frowned. "Where's Shirley?"

The Clichè Stick was gone.

* * *

Ben came flying out of the plothole and hit the ground hard.

He groaned and coughed as he picked himself up. This was bad on so many different levels. Not only had Repiv's cover been blown, but the worst of Ben's fears had come about, and now the entire Society thought he was a traitor. But the absolute worst part of it was with Ben no longer being an asset, chances were Bella would be dead within the hour.

Ben gritted his teeth. It was all on him now. The only person he could rely on to help him and rescue Bella was himself.

He took a moment to look around. He seemed to be in a cavern of some sort.

"Great, now where am I?" Ben wondered out loud.

"So, you managed to get away, did you?"

Ben whirled at Repiv's sneer to find the traitor standing several feet behind him.

"No thanks to you." Ben growled.

"You weren't exactly a huge help either as I recall." Repiv replied, folding his arms. "You even let that girl go! We could've used her as a hostage!"

"As if I'd let you do that." Ben sneered. "Don't forget, I'm not on your side here. I'm only working with you so I can figure out where you're keeping Bella."

Ben gestured around the cave tunnel they were in. "I'm guessing that this place, whatever it is, is the Protection Society's hideout. And now that I know where you're keeping Bella," He said, dropping a hand to Bahamut's neck and pulling the guitar around to his front. "I don't need you anymore."

Repiv's eyes narrowed. "That's funny," He said slowly, pulling another Space Hammer card from his pocket. "Now that my cover's been blown, I could say the same thing for you..."

The two stared each other down for a long moment. Then Ben made the first move, snapping off a note on one of Bahamut's strings, firing a bolt of green energy at the traitor, but Repiv was faster.

He threw himself to one side, avoiding the projectile, unwinding Carl from around his neck and hurling him, fangs outstreched, at the Society Agent.

Ben tried to do the Fast-Step, but he slipped on the smooth rock and went down.

Carl overshot Ben, and when he hit the ground, he whirled on the Agent, preparing to strike again.

Ben desperatly tried to scramble out of the way, but it was too late. Carl's teeth were less than inches away now

Ben closed his eyes, waiting for the feeling of fatal venom entering his veins.

Suddenly, a blur came flying out of nowhere, crashing into Carl in midair and slamming the snake into the opposite wall.

"Listen, buddy. I've got one rule and one rule only."

Ben cracked open an eye, then widened both in astonishment.

"Nobody," Growled Shirley, pinning the thrashing Carl to the wall. "And I mean nobody, messes with Ben, except for me!"

"Shirley?" Ben gaped, struggling to his feet. "How did you--?"

"We'll talk later!" Shirley snapped, turning to face her erstwhile partner. "For now, you just take care of Repiv while I deal with Capitan Overbite here!"

Just then, Carl managed to work his head around and sank his fangs deep into Shirley's bark. The Clichè Stick turned around slowly and gave the serpent a whithering look.

"I'm a stick, you moron," She sneered. "You really think that's gonna affect me any?"

At that moment, if Carl was human, Ben would've been willing to bet that the snake would've sweat-dropped.

Ben turned back to Repiv, ignoring the one-sided battle raging behind him.

"Looks like it's just you and me now." He nodded towards the Space Hammer card still in Repiv's hand. "Think that little knife's gonna be much help?"

"I prefer to tailor my weapon to the occasion." Repiv replied.

The Space Hammer card twisted and flickered in his hand, until it morphed into a long ivory-colored steel whip tipped with a wicked spike.

"You call your guitar Bahamut, the king of Dragons, right?" Repiv asked, cracking the whip a few times. "In that case, this is Balor, king of the snakes!"

With that, he cracked the whip at Ben. The Agent ducked, but not quickly enough to prevent the tip of Balor's spike from snagging his shirt sleeve and tearing a rip in it.

Ben fired of a second series of notes, but Repiv whirled Balor in front of him, creating a vortex and batting the energy bursts aside.

He quickly struck again, this time Balor shot straight out, aiming for Ben's chest.

In a flash, Ben angled Bahamut at the ground and fired, the energy blast creating a small explosion which forcefully propelled Ben backwards, just out of range.

Ben staggered as he hit the ground and Repiv capitalized on the opportunity. Pulling Balor backwards as far as he could, he struck with all his might.

Even down, Ben was not out of the fight. He blasted a power chord out on Bahamut, knocking the whip inside aside, deflecting the blow.

Repiv's eyes widened. He was wide open.

"My turn!" Ben gritted, wailing a barrage of notes at the traitor.

I got him! Thought Ben triumphantly as the energy streaked towards their target.

But fate begged to differ. Repiv tightened his grip on his whip's handle and in a flash, Balor curled in front of him, absorbing the blow.

"Nice try," Repiv scoffed as Balor trailed to the ground. " You really thought I would go that easy?"

Ben shrugged. "No, not really."

Shirley leapt at Repiv from behind, jabbing the fangs of the now-dead Carl into his neck.

The traitor gasped as the venom entered into his bloodstreams. His eyes were wide and vacant as he took a staggering step forward.

He gasped for air again, his eyes fixed on Ben. "You..."

He took another step forward, then his legs gave out from under him and he slumped to the ground like a sack of grain, panting in vain for air. A few seconds later his eyes glazed over.

Ben gingerly walked over to the body and, kneeling, checked for a pulse, keeping one hand on Bahamut as he did so.

"Dead." He said shortly, standing.

"Sorry." Shrugged Shirley, not sounding very sorry at all. "There was no other way to stop him."

Ben shook his head. "If you hadn't done it someone else would have, probably me."

"If you say so." Shirley said, tossing the dead Carl's body aside. "Well, c'mon, let's go home."

Ben shook his head. "I can't." He said looking away.

Shirley growled. "Why not? Come on, Ben! You're already in hot water as it is! You're obviously not in league with the Protection Society, or at least Repiv! If we go back now--"

"Neb's got Bella." Ben said, still not meeting Shirley's gaze.

Shirley scowled. "Bella? I thought you killed her in Buso Renkin!"

Ben shook his head. "She's still alive."

"Well so what if she is? And who cares if Neb has her? I mean, it's not as if you're in love with her--!"

Ben didn't reply; he just continued to stare at the cave wall.

Shirley frowned. "You..."

Then it hit her.

"Oh." Was all she could say.

There was a long pause as her mind tried to register this development.

Then she took a deep breath. "You could've told me, Ben."

Ben nodded. "I know." He said quietly.

Silence reigned between the two for another long moment, then Ben glanced at Shirley.

"How'd you find me here anyway? Even I don't know where we are."

Shirley looked grim. "I ran into an old friend of ours."

Ben raised a questioning eyebrow, but Shirley shook her head.

"You'll figure it out soon enough," She said. "It wouldn't do you any good even if I told you, believe me."

Ben considered pressing the issue, but decided against it. After what he'd done he was in no position to make demands.

"If you say so." He sighed. "C'mon, let's--"

Shirley suddenly wavered and collapsed as he started forward.

"Shirley!" Ben cried, hurrying forward to catch his muse. "Are you OK?" He demanded, worried.

"I'm fine." Shirley grimaced. "Just a little dizzy is all. I may be a stick, but that venom Carl shot me up with still knocked me for a loop!"

Shirley glanced up into his worried face. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She assured Ben. "I just need to rest for a bit. You go on ahead and rescue Bella, I'll follow when I've caught my breath."

"Aer you sure?"

"Just go!" Shirley insisted, shoving on Ben's shoulder weakly. "I'll be right behind you!"

"All right..." Ben conceded, standing, as Shirley propped herself up against a rock.

Ben turned to go.

"Ben!" Shirley called after him. Ben looked over his shoulder at his partner.

"Be very careful." Shirley said, looking Ben straight in the eye. "We're in deeper trouble than you know."

Ben met her gaze for a second longer, then turned and ran off down the tunnel.

* * *

Ben hurried through the caves twisting tunnels silently. He jumped at every little sound, convinced that every other shadow held a Pro-Clichè and Mary-Sue Protection Society agent ready to jump him. More than once he stumbled on a hidden rock and fell flat on his face. The caves seemed to go on forever.

Ben had no way to keep track of time, but it felt like he'd been stumbling around blindly for hours.

Maybe this wasn't the Protection Society's base after all. Maybe Repiv had just opened a random plothole and he was going nowhere. He could wander these caves forever and never find anyone.

Ben could just feel the beginnings of panic setting in when he felt something. A breeze.  
An exit?

Ben quickened his pace and quickly found the source of the wind. It was an opening in the cave wall, just big enough for him to fit through.

He glanced around warily, but there was no one in sight.

Holding his breath, he sidled up to the aperture, looked through and froze.

He was looking into a massive cavern. The hole he was looking through was situated almost one hundred feet up a steep cliff face. The cavern was so large you could easily fit four football fields side-by-side in it. That wasn't what had caught Ben's attention though.

On the ground far below him, several figures were milling around. Even at this distance Ben could pick out the forms of Ekard, Relyt,...and Neb. Ben's eyes narrowed when he spotted his nemesis, but forced himself to focus, that wasn't the only thing that had caught his attention.

Situated in the exact center of the cave was a massive construct. It reached from the ground to the ceiling and was roughly dumbbell shaped. Ben frowned. Just what was that thing? He shook his head, it didn't matter. The priority right now was rescuing Bella.

He scanned the cave again and spotted her. She was tied to a stalagmite off to the side. She appeared to be asleep...or unconscious. He hoped it was the former. Fortunately most of the Protection Society was ignoring her.

Ben glanced down the cliff face. It would be tricky, but if he took his time and went slow, he should be able to make it down without breaking his neck. He gave another glance at the people far below. At this range, it was unlikely anyone would notice him climbing down. At least he hoped it was...

Ben took a deep breath and tentatively stepped out of the hole onto a rock outcropping. From there, he gingerly began to climb down the cliff face. More than once he thought he'd reached a dead end and was stuck, but there was always another way down just within range.

It was a torturous few minutes. He was completely exposed. If anyone on the ground did manage to notice him, he would be a sitting duck. While Ben was lost in thought of the horrible things that would happen if he was spotted, his foot slipped.

He scrambled desperately for something to hold onto and managed to find a tiny ledge to balance on, but his thrashing around had knocked loose a few pebbles. The stones went skittering down the cliff face, their nearly inaudible clicking sounding like thunder to Ben. He held his breath, looking down, but by some divine intervention, he was still yet-unnoticed. After remaining frozen for several seconds to be sure he was still invisible, he cautiously continued his descent.

Ben wanted to let out a sigh of relief when his foot finally reached the ground, but he still wasn't out of this just yet. Ben stuck close to the cliff wall, skirting the edge of the shadows and slipping from stalagmite to stalagmite.

Even from this distance he could hear the Protection Society Agents talking as he moved thanks to the caves acoustics.

"You really think this is gonna work?" Relyt asked, arms folded, looking up at the giant dumbbell-thing.

"How should I know?" Neb grumbled, leaning up against a stalagmite. "I just can't believe the big brass actually gave him the green light to go ahead with this harebrained scheme."

"Theoretically speaking, it is perfectly possible." Raven said. The Stu was sitting on a rock, one ankle resting on the other knee.

"Besides, if this does work, we will enjoy such power that those fools in the Elimination Society will be helpless to stop us."

"I don't know why you're even here." Relyt muttered, shooting the black-clad Stu a resentful glance. "I don't even know why we're here."

"To protect it, moron." Ekard snorted. "'Cause, you know that's what we do. We're the Pro-Cliche and Mary-Sue Protection Society, remember?"

"Yeah, but protect it from what?" Relyt grumbled. "A few bats? Her?" He jerked his head towards where Bella was tied up. "If he really wanted to protect it, he would've built this thing back at base, not out in the middle of god-knows-where. And why do we have to keep that pathetic excuse for a Sue here with us anyway?"

Raven sighed tolerantly,as if he were dealing with a small child. "He insisted it had to be built here, something about energy fields and multiverse-geolgical locations. And if this thing really is as powerful as he claims, would you want to take any chances on anything happening to it?"

Relyt muttered something under his breath.

"Also," Raven continued. "He insists that Bella is crucial to his plan. As for why I'm here," He shrugged. "I'm a scientist. I wouldn't pass up the chance to witness something as spectacular as this in action!"

As the four continued to argue, Ben had finally slipped behind the stalagmite Bella was tied to.

He inched closer, still in the shadows and whispered in her ear.

"Bella," He hissed. "It's me. Are you alright?"

Bella instantly stiffened and let out a small squeak at the sound of Ben's voice

_Ben? What are you doing here?_

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here. Can you move?"

Bella nodded slightly, making it look as if her head had lolled in sleep.

"Good, hold still."

Ben looked around and found a suitably sized rock.

_It always works in the movies, why not?_

Still crouching, he hauled back and threw the rock as hard as he could into the darkness in the opposite direction.

"Look, I'm not disagreeing with you," Relyt growled. "I'm just saying--" The clatter of the rock as it bounced off a stalactite and bounced to the ground interrupted him.

"What was that?"

"Just ignore it." Neb yawned.

"No, he'll throw a hissy fit if he finds out we let a potential threat to his baby go investigated." Ekard sighed. "C'mon, let's go check it out."

As the arguing dopplegangers went in search of what had caused the mysterious noise, Ben went to work on rope binding Bella. Someone really knew their knots. Ben frowned, tugging harder at the cords.

"Well, well, well. What do we 'ave 'ere?"

Ben whirled to find Cassandra standing behind him, a smirk plastered across her face. "SON OF A B--!"

Fortunately for this story's rating, it was at that moment that Bella acted. A pulse of green energy blasted from her hand, severing her bonds and slamming the french Sue back.

Neb, Raven and the rest whirled at Ben's cry.

"How'd he get here?" Relyt asked, open mouthed.

"Why cares, moron?" Neb shouted. "Get them!"

Ben leveled a palm at the approaching Protection Society and barked "My coffemakers are not controlled by Hoover Dam computers!"

The torrent of dark liquid blasted out, and the charging Protection Society with no time to stop, were caught up in the wave and swept back.

"Go, go, go!" Ben screamed as Bella jumped to her feet and ripped her blindfold off, her bindings falling to the ground.

By now Neb and the rest had recovered from the coffee wave.

"You're not getting away from me this time, you little freak!" Neb rasped, pointing at the fleeing duo. "Mess with--"

"No!" Ekard knocked his hand aside. "He said he needs Bella alive."

"Yes, but he didn't say anything about Ben." Raven said, materializing his sword.

Ben and Bella started to run, but Raven appeared from nowhere blocking their path.

"And just where do you think you're going?" He asked, leveling his sword at the two.

Bella glanced behind them in desperation, but it was too late. They were surrounded.

Ben made a move for Bahamut, but Raven was faster. In a flash he twirled his sword and swept Ben's legs out from under him.

Then he raised a palm and knocked Bella off her feet with a blast of magic, negating the energy beam she'd been charging.

Ben tried to get back up, but the point of Raven's sword at his throat forced him back down.

"Long time no see, Ben." Neb chuckled as he approached.

Ben just snarled at his twin as Cassandra and the rest of the Protection Society surrounded them.

"I can't believe you were actually stupid enough to come on your own." Ekard snorted. "What happened to Repiv?"

"Dead." Ben spat.

Ekard shrugged, completely unconcerned. "I should've figured. I never got just why he recruited that idiot into our ranks anyway."

Ben frowned. "He? He who?"

"None of your business." Relyt snorted, twirling his staff menacingly.

"Say, Raven," Neb said slowly. "Are you certain Bella's needed for his plan?"

"Not entirely." Raven said. "I suppose we could do without her, if we absolutely had to."

"Then let's have to." Neb hissed, taking a step forward.

"'Ey!" Cassandra protested. "I've got a score to settle with eem too you know! Plus eez a leed on that eediot cheesing me!"

"Back off," Neb rasped. "He's mine!"

"Five bucks on Neb." Ben whispered to Bella as they all watched the two bickering.

"Make it ten and you've got a deal." Bella replied.

"What was that?" Raven asked, digging the tip of the blade into Ben's throat.

Ben resisted the urge to swallow, for fear the sword at his neck would tear out his larynx. Maybe this wasn't worth ten dollars after all...twenty maybe, but not ten...

"Oh, for the love of Chuck Norris. I leave you infants alone for five minutes and what happens? You get in a fight!"

Everyone turned to see a plothole open and someone step out.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want any violence near the device!"

The figure who emerged from the plothole was tall, with unruly blonde hair streaked with brown. He was dressed in a set of combination plate and chainmail armor and steel boots. The S-shaped latticed hilt of a sword protruded out from behind one shoulder. His ice-blue eyes swept the crowd, widening when he spotted Ben.

"Well, well, well..." He breathed. "What do we have here?"

Ben couldn't move, it was like his brain had shut down. This was impossible, it couldn't be him...

"A-Asasca?" He said in a quavering voice as he got slowly to his feet.

"So it is you!" Asasca said, walking over.

"You know him, Asasca?" Neb rasped.

"I should hope so," Asasca said with a dark smile. "He's my creator."

_"Whaaat?"_

There was a loaded silence for several seconds.

"Is this true, Ben?" Bella whispered, standing. "Did you really create him?"

Ben nodded, still stunned. "He was my greatest character..." He said dumbly.

"Greatest character, eh?" Asasca scoffed. "Not great enough to keep from getting locked up in the Vault of Abandoned Ideas though, was I?"

"So can I kill him then?" Neb asked, cracking his nuckles.

Asasca eyed Ben for a long moment before shaking his head.

"I don't think so," He mused. Ben let out a sigh of relief which he regretted as Asasca finished his statement. "It'll do him good to see what he caused. After all," He continued with a cold smile. "If not for him, the Fandom Stabilizer wouldn't even exist!"

Ben frowned. "The what?"

"He killed Repiv, you know." Neb put in, clearly hoping Asasca would still let him kill the Society Agent.

Asasca shrugged. "If Repiv was weak enough to get himself killed, then that's his fault."

Neb muttered something under his breath. Everyone ignored him.

"I'm assuming you got what you needed, then?" Raven asked, letting his sword vanish.

Asasca nodded. "I'm planning on installing it right away." He said, turning towards the massive dumbbell-shaped structure. "Why don't you give me a hand, Ben? And the rest of you keep an eye on that Sue!" He called over his shoulder as he headed towards the construct.

Ben looked uncomfortably at Bella for a moment before Raven gave him a shove to start moving. "Walk," the Stu growled. "Don't worry, we won't kill your little girlfriend...yet. We still need her."

With one last backwards glance at the jade Sue, Ben hurried after Asasca.

"Asasca, just what is going on here?" Ben asked as he struggled to keep up with his character.

"What do you mean?" Asasca asked, innocently.

"Why are you with the Protection Society? Just what is that thing?" As they drew closer to the device, Ben could see a slew of access panels, lights and control boards scattered across it's surface.

"This," Asasca said, gesturing to it as they drew up. "Is my mangum opus, my doomsday device."

He turned back to Ben. "My revenge."

"Revenge? For what?"

"Don't give me that," Asasca sneered. "You know very well what you did. We, your characters, were perfectly happy in the stories you made for us, you had massive epics and quests spanning millennia and entire universes planned!"

"Yeah, but--"

"Oh, I know what you're going to say. Sure," Asasca shrugged. "The stories were crap and you never got farther than three chapters before giving up on it, but we were perfectly happy knowing you cared for each and every one of us. Nobody ever died and stayed dead, and you had pasts and futures planned for all of us!"

"But then," Asasca's face darkened. "You discovered fanfiction and the Society and you forgot about us completely. You threw yourself into the Society with everything you had and left us to fend for ourselves. Eventually, by default, we ended up in the Vault of Abandoned Ideas. Me, Sluthen, Starfire, Spirit, Jet, Nightmare, Damnation, Hellfire, all of us."

Ben couldn't look away as Asasca's piercing blue eyes pinned him in place.

"Fortunately, you made me strong enough to be able to escape on my own, though I couldn't save anyone else. Once I got out, I learned of your exploits in the Society and knew immediately what I had to do."

He turned to the device, open an access panel and began to fiddle with a tangle of wires inside.

"Tell me, Ben." He said as he worked. "What is the greatest, no, the only thing standing between the Sues and total domination of the Multiverse?"

"The Elimination Society?" Ben hesitantly.

"As if!" Asasca snorted. "You idiots are only deluding yourselves if you think you can really stop the Sues. There will always be Sues. Their forces are increasing and at a faster rate than that of your patheic Society. The best thing you can do is stall for time. There is only one tiny detail that keeps the Sues from destroying you utterly. Think about this, what enables fanfictions to exist? What allows you and your friends to insert yourselves into fandoms without fear of repercussion?"

"The...fact that we accept that we're not canon, so...." Ben trailed off.

"So?" Asasca prompted.

"So anything we do is reversed the instant we leave."

"Exactly!" Asasca closed the access panel, moved to a control panel and started to push various buttons. "But the Fandom Stabilizer removes that limitation! When this is activated, it aligns the bio-signature of anyone who's keyed into it's database with the wavelength of any fandom they enter, resulting in any action of theirs becoming canon, and thus permanent!"

Ben's eyes widened. "What? That's impossible!"

Asasca shrugged. "Extremely difficult maybe, but far from impossible. Of course, such a venture would require a massive source on energy, so that's why I sent Repiv into the Society as a spy, to acquire the energy source I needed."

"From the Vault of Things Man was not Meant to Know." Ben deduced.

"So you're not a total idiot after all." Asasca smiled wryly. "Yes, the power source we needed was locked in the Vault of Things Man was not Meant to Know. I sent Repiv to go get it, but I should've guessed he'd bungle it, so I had to go and get it myself."

"Fourtnately," Asasca crouched down and opened a small access port. "With the entire Society rushing around like a chicken with it's head cut off after your little 'betrayal', it was a simple enough matter to break in."

"But how did you get into the Library Arcanium in the first place?" Ben asked. "I thought it was safeguarded against any outsiders!"

"I got in with this." Asasca said holding an item up.

Ben frowned. "Isn't that just a regular old Plothole Generator?"

"Close." Said Asasca. "See, when Repiv was in the Society he stole several Plothole Generators for me and a few other members of the Protection Society who needed them. Once we had them, it was childs play to rewire them in order to remove the safeguards."

"And once I was inside," Asasca continued, drawing an object from a pouch. "I was able to steal this, the power source for the Fandom Stabilizer."

The object was small enough to fit into the palm of Asasca's hand, but it glowed so brightly you could barely discern what it was.

Ben paled. "Is that...?"

"Yes..." Asasca hissed. "This is the reason fangirls write Mpreg fics!"

"But you can't!" Ben exclaimed, taking a step back. "That power was locked in the Vault for a reason! It was never meant to be used by mortal hands!"

"You're forgetting, Ben!" Asasca said as he opened an access panel and shoved the object deep inside. "You made me immortal!"

Lights lit up across the surface of the Fandom Stabilizer as it began to power on.

Even Neb and the rest who had been arguing (again) turned to watch.

Asasca turned to Ben with a gleeful expression.

"And now," He said, holding up what appeared to be a detonator switch. "It's all over!"

"No!" Ben shouted, diving for the switch. But it was too late.

Asasca pushed the button.

* * *

**Yessss. Raise you hand if you expected a NON-cliffhanger ending this time around. *Counts hands and points* You guys are slow learners. XD**

**In terms of titles you can thank Powerman 5000 for this chapter's title.**


	4. Chapter IV

**Disclaimer: That's what she said...**

**(Any appearing members of the Society belong to their respective Authors)**

**Chapter 4: Face the Face of War/Hand of Doom**

**And at long last the climax arrives! How many things will get blown up? Who will kick the crap out of who? Will James Firebrand EVER wrap up the Ben/Bella relationship once and for all? And just when will I stop asking rhetorical questions?**

* * *

Lights began to flash across the Fandom Stabilizer as it activated. A loud hum filled the air as Asasca and the assembled Protection Society and Sues stared at the device in awe.

The hum grew louder and louder until it was beyond deafening. Ben clapped his hands over his ears as the noise reached an unbearable volume.

Asasca turned to his allies, arms spread wide dramatically.

"And now," he somehow shouted over the din. "The dawn of a new world!"

Unfortunately for him, it was at that exact second that a harsh grinding noise sounded, and with a clatter the Fandom Stabilizer shut down. Several warning lights began to pulse red as sparks flew from a handful of access points.

Asasca stood stock still for a second, then turned slowly to glare at Neb, Raven and the rest.

"All right!" He roared, his face red with rage. "Which one of you idiots forgot to hook the flux capacitor back into the coaxilizing rationalization convertor?"

There was a silent chorus of feet shuffling and eye shifting from the Protection Society Agents.

"Never mind," Asasca hissed, rolling up his sleeves and stalking towards the massive device. "I'll just have to fix this myself."

"How long with that take?" Raven asked, moving to help him.

"A few hours, give or take."

"I knew it wouldn't work," Relyt muttered. "Remind me again _why_ the higher-ups let him go ahead with this?"

"Quit complaining," Neb growled.

Cassandra pulled out a communicator of some sort and held it up to her ear for a second before turning away, swearing.

"Everything OK?" Ekard asked.

"I can't geet my seester." Cassandra huffed. "I've been trying feor 'ours now."

Ben pulled Bella aside as the Protection Society agents bickered.

"Are you OK?" he asked. "Did they do anything to you?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm fine."

Ben let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I was so worried."

"I'm all right," Bella reassured him. " But what happened? What are you doing here? And where's Shirley?"

Ben grimaced and related the events of the past couple of days.

"Repiv panicked and ran," Ben concluded. "I followed him here and we fought. Shirley managed to kill Repiv, but she got hurt in the fight, so she stayed behind to rest."

He sighed.

"To make things short, the Elimination Society thinks I'm a traitor, so I don't think we'll be able to count on any reinforcements coming. We're on our own here."

Silence reigned between them for a long moment, then Bella asked a question.

"Ben, I know Asasca is your greatest creation, but who is he really?"

Ben turned to look at his erstwhile character who was busy working on the Fandom Stabilizer.

"Him? He's the man behind the curtain, the Chessmaster, the man behind the man."

Ben turned back to look at Bella. "Back before I discovered fanfiction, my stories were always somewhat of a cross between fantasy and super-hero comic-bookery. Asasca was...it's hard to define him."

Ben's brow creased as he thought. "It's like this," He said at last. "My earliest generations of stories centered around an evil entity I named Sluthen. Sluthen was your average run-of-the-mill-destroy-the-universe-refuses-to-stay-dead baddy. But for some reason or another I never got around to explaining, Asasca and Sluthen hated each other with a passion, so Asasca would go from world to world one step ahead of Sluthen, and grant a team of teenagers the power to fight him."

"So, that's all he did?" Bella asked. "He gave people super-powers and disappeared? Sounds like a walking deus ex machina if you ask me."

Ben shrugged. "That's pretty much what he was. But later on, my stories and Asasca's role both changed. He tended to head small, highly powerful strike forces of teens he had bestowed power to. In return for their servitude, Asasca promised them that they'd find the answer or solution to some personal problem or struggle they were dealing with. He also evolved the Chessmaster personality, playing people off against each other and even using his own servants as pawns. I tried hard to make him morally ambiguous. Sure, he helps people, but there's always something in it for him. He's not above betraying his own servants if it served his own ends."

"You said his primary ability was to bestow power on others." Bella said, looking towards Asasca. "Just how powerful is he?"

Ben sighed and scratched his head. "See, that's the thing. Since Asasca was always the master planner type, he virtually never fought himself. He always let his subordinates do any dirty work for him. So to answer your question, even _I_ have no clue. He could be strong enough to take on the entire Elimination Society with both hands tied behind his back, or he could be so weak a Care Bear could mop the floor with him. There's really no way of telling, short of engaging him head on."

"So what are we going to do?" Asked Bella.

Ben sighed. "I'm not sure what we CAN do. We're out numbered three to one, and I have absolutely no clue where we are or how to get out of here. And to top things off, the Society thinks I'm a turn-coat, so there's no hope of back-up."

He looked back towards Asasca and the rest. "We're on our own here."

There was another long silence.

"I'm sorry," Bella said softly. "This is all my fault."

Ben turned back to look at her.

Bella was sitting on a rock with her arms wrapped around her knees, drawing them up to her chest.

"All this time I've done nothing but cause trouble for you," Bella continued. "If it weren't for me--"

"Don't think like that!" Ben cut her off. "You didn't ask for any of this! If anything, all of this is my fault for creating Asasca in the first place."

"But what are we going to do?" Bella insisted.

"I don't know," Ben admitted. "But I'm going to get both of us home alive."

He looked Bella straight in the eye.

"I promise."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were being serious."

Ben turned at Neb's snicker, glaring at his counterpart who was flanked by Ekard and Relyt.

"What do you want?" he growled, dropping one hand to Bahamut.

"I got bored," Neb shrugged. "So I figured I'd come over here and have a little fun. You're not busy, are you?" he leered.

"Too busy to waste time on someone like you!" Bella shot back.

Neb raised an eyebrow. "Watch your mouth," He rasped. "Asasca said I couldn't kill you, he didn't say anything about not beating you bloody."

"You lay so much as a hand on her and I swear to god I'll--"

"You'll what?" Neb challenged, cutting Ben off. "You know, I think you need a lesson in respect more than your girlfriend does! Grab him!"

Before Ben could react Ekard and Relyt grabbed him by the arms, restraining him.

"Now," Neb said, cracking his nuckles. "School is in session."

"Let him go."

Bella's voice was dangerously calm.

"Or what?" Neb sneered, turning to face her. "You'll zap me with your little energy beams?"

Bella met his gaze evenly, the green energy in her fists pulsing gently.

"That's the general idea, yeah."

"Why don't you try it?" Neb scoffed. "See what--"

"Hey, Neb!" Ben interrupted.

Neb turned back to face the Agent.

Ekard and Relyt still had a hold of Ben's outstretched arms, holding them out to the side. Ben's hands were spread as well and his fingers were splayed in every direction.

He smirked. "Don't mess with Nukes."

"No!" Neb looked around wildly, but it was too late. A curtain of warheads was descending all around them.

Ekard and Relyt had let go of Ben in shock. He grabbed Bella by the hand and pulled her out of the way as the bombs exploded, the entire cavern shook violently.

One of the nukes collided with the Fandom Stabilizer, the explosion blowing the top half of the device clean off. It smashed into the ground, barely missing Asasca and Raven who dove for cover, shielding their heads from the falling debris.

Stalactites broke from the shaking ceiling, plummeting to the ground point-first like spears where they shattered into stone shards.

Suddenly, before even half of the nukes had gone off, the cave ceiling exploded inward and Adrian, Aster in fae form, Cristoph, Drake and Shirley came flying in.

"Aster!" Adrian called as they fell. "Give us an air cushion!"

"You got it!" the fae chirped and instantly the group's descent slowed. There was a flash as Adrian summoned Hoshikuzu and angled towards Asasca, sword raised to strike.

Asasca reached over his shoulder and drew his own sword, just in time to bock a swing from the still airborne Adrian.

Their swords locked and eyes met as Adrian remained perched in mid-air.

Asasca raised an eyebrow. "Hmm..."

He gave his sword a swing, breaking the lock. Adrian hit the ground and slid backwards several feet.

"So you're the Librarian." Asasca said, twirling his sword idly. "This should be interesting..."

In response, Adrian raised Hoshikuzu and charged.

Meanwhile, Christoph had engaged Relyt in a flurry of strikes, blocks and parries, neither giving, nor moving an inch.

Drake and Aster were double-teaming Raven, the black-haired Stu taking both on without breaking a sweat. Aster flitted around Raven, loosing various spells at him, while Drake took a more direct approach armed with his spear.

Raven deflected a blast of magic and a spear thrust with one flick of his sword, then released a wave of energy from his palm. Aster was forced to make some very undignified aerial maneuvers to avoid it while Drake was unceremoniously bowled over, the spell denting his armor.

"Is that really the best you two have?" Raven asked, leaning on his sword as Aster and Drake recovered. "I get more of a challenge from stretching when I get up in the morning! At least make this worth my time, won't you?" he cried, grabbing his sword and going on the offensive. Aster and Drake fell back, struggling to keep their limbs intact as Raven advanced, his sword a blur.

Ekard looked around, trying to decide who he should help, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around. It was Shirley.

"Hi," she grinned evilly. "Remember me?"

Ekard paled. "_OH, NOT HER AGAIN!"_ he shouted as Shirley started chasing him.

Neb looked around desperately. This was bad. The Fandom Stabilizer had been destroyed, and if the Librarian were here, chances were they had already lost, Asasca or no Asasca. He had no interest in risking his life in an uncertain battle. With one last glance around the battlefield, he turned and ran.

Ben and Bella slowly picked themselves up from off the ground. They had narrowly missed getting caught in an explosion from a nearby nuke and barely avoided an ensuing barrage of falling rocks.

Bella looked around at the warring agents. "How'd they find us here?" she asked, open-mouthed.

"Who knows?" Ben asked grimly. "I'm more worried about--" Then he noticed the fleeing Neb. "Hey! He's getting away!" He shouted.

"Who?"

"Neb! Hey! Christoph! Adrian! Someone! Hey!" Nobody could hear him over the sound of the raging battle.

"Dammit!" Ben swore. "I'm going after him!"

"Who? Neb?"

"Yes!" Ben said sharply, turning back to the Sue. "I want you to hide somewhere and wait for me. Don't budge until I come for you. If I'm not back in an hour, run."

With that, Ben took off after Neb.

"Ben! Wait!" Bella cried. She started after him but an invisible force knocked her off her feet and sent her flying backwards several feet.

"Just 'ere do yoo think 'URE going?" Cassandra asked, striding into view.

Bella struggled to her feet. "Looks like it's time for the obligatory catfight." she growled as her eyes vegan to glow green.

Neb hadn't realized just how large the cavern was. He'd been running for several seconds now, but he'd hardly made any progress.

"Neb!"

Neb groaned, he recognized that voice. He turned to see Ben hot on his heels, his face a grim mask. Neb growled and picked up the pace only to come skidding to a stop on the edge of a precipice. The yawning abyss stretched out in front of him, so wide he couldn't see the other side.

Turning back to face the approaching Ben, he raised a palm and rasped, "My coffeemakers rule the world."

Ben slid to a stop and pulled Bahamut around as the tidal wave of coffee came barreling towards him. He quickly began to crash out a rapid-fire stream of power chords, creating a wall of sound, pushing the flood away from him and creating an island in a sea of coffee.

Ben let out a sigh of relief as the last of the java streamed away, but it was cut short as Neb decked him, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.

Neb took several steps back from the stunned Agent and pointing at him. "Mess with nukes."

Ben shook his head to clear the stars from his vision. The cave was still spinning slightly but he had other things on his mind, namely the approaching nuke. There was no time to think and only just enough time to pray.

Ben flipped onto his back, pulled his Plothole Generator from his holster, held it up and fired, creating a plothole in mid-air. The nuke fell through the portal and vanished into an unknown fandom.

Ben was starting to his feet when Neb plucked his Plothole Generator out of his hand and crushed it. Then he grabbed Ben, raised him over his head, turned around and slammed the agent back onto the cave floor with all his might. Ben gasped in pain as the air was driven from his lungs.

"Let's try this again," Neb said calmly, stepping back and pointing at Ben again. "Mess with nukes."

Ben's eyes widened and he gasped for air desperately as he tried to struggle to his feet, but it was too late. The warhead struck Ben head-on, creating a small mushroom cloud and kicking up a dense cloud of dust and smoke.

"Gotcha," Neb growled, watching the billowing cloud. He had only summoned a minor, localized nuke, but even a small one was more than enough to deal with someone like Ben. Then he heard something. A wheezing noise.

The smoke slowly cleared, revealing Ben who was nearly bent double. Bahamut was slung across his back in shambles. Apparently Ben had used the weapon-instrument to block the force of the blow from Neb's nuke. Ben had one hand on Bahamut's neck, the only part of the guitar that had escaped any significant damage. Bahamut's body was broken open in several different places and severed wires and sparks were poking out.

Ben made the half-wheezing, half-gasping noise again, and Neb realized with a jolt that Ben was_laughing_.

"Y-you just lost, Neb," he chuckled.

Neb snorted. "Yeah, sure, because I'm the one on the ground sobbing like a little girl."

Ben ignored him. As he took Bahamut off of his back, chips and flakes from the guitar's ruined body fluttered to the ground.

"Tell me," Ben said, straightened up. "Do you know how I defeated Bella the last time we fought?"

"No," Neb sighed. "But I get the feeling you're about to tell me."

"I smashed Bahamut on the ground." Ben said, not paying the least bit of attention to his adversary. "When I did, all the energy stored in Bahamut to power its combat functions was released in a massive explosion. Of course, Bahamut was ruined, so when I got back to the Library Camille almost had to rebuild it from scratch."

"Who's Camille?"

"While she was working on it though, she noticed something interesting..."

Neb groaned. "Oh, don't tell me you're about to have a flashback..."

* * *

_"_DANGIT!_"_

_Camille blinked. "Who was that?"_

_Ben shook his head. "Ignore it, this is a flashback. So what new features were you talking about?"_

_Camille walked around the table and over to a bank of computers and began to input several commands._

_"I noticed something when I was working on Bahamut." She said. "The energy source I used to power it was a brand-new one I had just invented and had never before tested. It didn't even have a name and frankly, to be honest, I wasn't even sure if it would even work or not."_

_Ben gulped at the idea of fighting Bella with a short-circuting Bahamut. It did not make a pretty picture._

_Camille finally found whaat she was looking for and stepped back to allow Ben to see the computer monitor. Long strings of numbers and various blueprints for Bahamut flashed across the screen._

_"When I hooked Bahamut up to these computers to run diagnostics, something didn't add up. The energy expended by Bahamut during its destruction was nearly fifty times what I had charged it with originally."_

_Ben scowled. "What? How is that possible?"_

_"I had no clue myself until I conducted a few experiments." Camille turned back to Ben. "Apparently, the energy source Bahamut uses has a very interesting property. Whenever the energy is compressed, the amount of power contained within it is increased exponentially. So the tighter you pack it and the longer you pack it, the stronger it becomes!"_

_Ben looked down at the silver guitar in his hands with a newfound respect._

_"As soon as I discovered this," Camille continued. "I set to work on developing a new function for Bahamut. Now, when Bahamut has sustained a sufficent amount of damage, you can activate what I call the Achilles Device, which releases all the stored power contained within Bahamut. But rather then externalizing the energy and wasting all of it in a single oversized blast--"_

* * *

"--The Achilles Device internalizes the multiplied power, giving Bahamut a whole new form..."

Neb blinked. "Did you just segue the dialogue from a character in a flashback into your own line?"

"Yeah."

Neb nodded appreciatively. "Smooth."

Ben shrugged modestly. "I thought so."

Then his eyes hardened. "Get ready to face the face of war, Neb!"

Behind his sunglasses, Neb's eyes widened. _What the--? Is his voice changing?_

Ben held Bahamut up, his voice distorting.

**_Strike with the fury of a wounded god...Bahamut!_**

There was a flash of light and an explosion of darkness. Shadows and smoke billowed around Ben, hiding him from view.

Even from a distance away, Neb could feel the raw force emanating from the cloud. It was like being faced with an unbearably loud noise. You put your hands over your ears, but you still have to turn or back away.

"Ben," Neb ground out, trying to keep his voice steady. "What is that?"

"This?" Ben's voice asked from inside the cloud. "This is my Bankai, my Limit Break, my Final Form."

There was a wail of a guitar and the shadows were blown away, revealing Ben once again.

"This," said Ben, "is Death Metal Bahamut."

Bahamut had transformed. It's original polished silver color had changed to a jet black. It had changed shape too, from the gentle waves and curves of the SG variety, to the jagged edges and spikes of a Warlock configuration. The black swoosh on the top and bottom of the front of the body had inverted as well, from a black to a silver which shone brightly in the darkness.  
Ben kept one hand on the fretboard which had extended by another two feet, letting his other arm hang at his side.

Neb struggled to remain calm, he could feel the raw power from the weapon.

"Is that it?" He sneered, trying to sound confident. "Is that all your Achilles Device can do? Give your electric twanger a makeover? Pathetic! My coffeemakers--"

Ben intruppted him, plucking a single string on Death Metal Bahamut. A concussive blast slammed out from the transformed guitar, knocking Neb back several yards and slamming him into a stalagmite.

Neb shook the stars from his vision, staggering upright. "You--won't beat me that easy!" He grated, lifting a finger. "Mess with--"

It was at that instant he noticed Ben's fingers strumming a second note on the black guitar. Neb dodged, but he didn't move quickly enough. The shockwave caught him in the side, spinning him around and slamming him into the ground, the blast shattering one of the lenses in his sunglasses.

The Protection Society Agent heard a second, less prominent thump as he hit the ground. As he slowly got to his feet, dazed, he noticed something on the ground. Someones severed arm lay several feet away, slowly oozing blood. It was a bizarre, almost comical sight, a severed arm just lying there on the ground. Then Neb felt a dull ache in his right shoulder, and when he looked over, his own arm was missing, blood spurting from a ragged stump.

Neb gasped in shock and pain, then whirled on Ben, shaking, blood still spraying from his shoulder.

"What are you?" He half-screamed at Ben, the one eye visible through his broken sunglasses wide with fear and rage.

"I told you Neb!" Ben shouted, hauling back on Bahamut. "I'm your death!"

He fired one last blast, the shockwave picking Neb up off his feet and tossing him over the edge of the abyss like a rag doll. Neb hardly had enough time for one final scream before it, and he, vanished forever.

* * *

Asasca and Adrian moved steadily across the cave floor, swords flashing and ringing in the darkness.

"Not half bad..." Asasca murmured as he blocked a twisting blow from Hoshikuzu.

"Don't patronize me!" Adrian barked. "Boot to the head!"

SCHWOOSH-FWUMP!

Asasca staggered back, a bootprint plastered across his face. He rubbed his face vigirously for a moment, before looking up and roaring with laughter.

"Excellent!" he shouted. "Do it again!"

"Your wish is my command!" growled Adrian. "Boot to the head!"

SCHWOOSH-CLANG!

Asasca caught Adrian's boot on his sword's flat and with a flick, sent Adrian staggering back.

"Now then," Asasca said raising his sword as Adrian tried to regain his balance. "Where were we?" he asked with a smirk.

* * *

Cassandra winced as she tried her hardest to sustain her force fields. Bella kept up her assault grimly, a continuous stream of twin energy beams wearing against Cassandra's shields. Blue sparks shot from the underside of Cassandra's force fields, burning her slightly, but she forced herself to ignore the pain.

Cassandra growled in frustration. This Sue was stronger than she had expected, Cassandra wasn't sure just how much longer her shields could hold.

Suddenly, Bella stopped the energy streams. Cassandra raised an eyebrow in confusion, then grunted in surprise as Bella renewed her assault, slamming individual charged bursts against Cassandra's shields.

Despite Cassandra's best efforts, she was forced back and her force fields finally buckled, a blast of emerald energy struck her in the abdomen, knocking her backwards and driving the wind out of her.

Cassandra heard a scream as she picked herself and turned just in time to see Neb being kncoked over the edge of the cliff.

Cassandra's eyes widened in shock. "Raveen!" She cried, whirling.

The Stu swatted Aster out of the air with the flat of his blade and turned to Cassandra. "What?" He asked, bored.

"They got Neb!" she shouted. "'Ee's dead!"

Raven growled as he spun back around to face the rest of the warring agents. "Retreat!" He shouted over the din of the battle. "Return to headquarters!"

He turned back to Drake who was leaning on his spear, trying to remain upright.

"This isn't over," he warned as he opened a Plothole and vanished. The rest of the Protection Society and Cassandra followed suit and in seconds, they were gone.

* * *

Ben collapsed to his knees in exhaustion, leaning on Death Metal Bahamut for support.

With a flicker the black guitar reverted back to its standard form, using the last of its energy to repair itself. Ben smiled down at the guitar. It was finally over. For now, Bahamut would be powerless, but it was a simple enough matter to recharge it. He looked out across the chasm, wondering idly just how long it would take Neb to reach the bottom of the canyon.

He turned as he heard a clapping sound. Asasca sat on a nearby stalagmite, applauding slowly.

"Bravo!" He chuckled, taking a sip from what appeared to be a tea cup. "That was better than Pay-Per-View!"

"Asasca," Ben said, getting to his feet "What are you--"

"Ben!"

Ben turned to find Bella sprinting towards him. She threw her arms around him, and he returned the gesture, hugging the Mary-Sue tightly.

"Are you OK?" Bella asked worriedly, pulling back so she could get a better look at Ben. "You're not hurt are you?"

"Nothing serious," Ben assured her. "I'll be fine. What about everyone else?"

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you."

Ben turned to find Adrian, flanked by the rest of the Society, standing behind them.

"You've got more important things to worry about. We found Shirley and she told is what happened."

Ben gave Shirley a look. The Cliche Stick bit her lip and refused to meet Ben's gaze.

Adrian folded his arms. "You've got a lot of explaining to do. You too." He said to Asasca. Asasca put on his best innocent face.

Ben started to speak, but Adrian raised a hand, cutting him off.

"This isn't the place," He said. "We'll talk back at the Library."

"We'll have to get _her_ Prohibited." Drake said, pulling a Prohibitor bracelet out of his pocket and starting towards Bella.

"No." Ben said, moving in front of the Sue. Drake stopped dead in his tracks.

"We HAVE to Prohibit her, Lord Ben!" Christoph insisted. "We can't let a Mary-Sue just walk into the Library Arcanium!"

"I don't care," Ben said flatly. "You're not laying a hand on her!"

Aster bit her lip. "Ben-kun..."

Then the cave started to shake violently.

"What's going on?" Ben shouted as everyone struggled to keep their footing.

"Well, let's see," Asasca said sarcastically, sliding off the stalagmite he was sitting on. "For one thing, you dropped ten different nukes in here and for another you destroyed the Fandom Stabilizer which was the only thing keeping the ceiling up!"

"What?" Ben shouted. "Why would the Fandom Stabilizer be the only thing keeping the ceiling up?"

Asasca shrugged. "I thought it would be more entertaining that way. Plus the author generally finds it amusing when the device you just destroyed ends up making you run away like little muskrats."

"Enough!" Adrian shouted as rocks began to tumble from the ceiling. "Get back to the Library!" He fired his Plothole Generator and vanished through the created rift.

Christoph and Drake shot Ben a look before jumping through the Plothole themselves, folowed by Aster.

"Come on, Ben!" Shirley shouted urgently, ducking as a stone smashed to the ground next to her.

"I'll be right there!" Ben yelled back. "Bella, you go first!"

The green haired Sue started for the portal, only to be knocked back by an invisible force accompanied by a rude sound.

"What's wrong?" Shirley demanded as larger and larger rocks began to fall around them.

"I forgot!" Ben shouted, smacking himself. "The Library's safeguarded against any outsiders! Bella can't get in through that Plothole unless she's Prohibited!"

He started forward to help Bella up, when Shirley shouted a warning, too late.

Ben looked up just in time to see a massive piece of stone break from the ceiling and come plummeting towards them.

There was no time to move; there was no time to think. Ben wrapped his arms around Bella and closed his eyes as a shadow fell over them.

* * *

**And with this, my Stu-ishness factor has risen by AT LEAST 30%. Fail. X$**

**And yes, I will FREELY admit that I FAIL at writing arguments. *headdesks***

**Manowar's Hand of Doom is the overall theme song for this fic, while Kataklysm's Face the Face of War is Death Metal Bahamut's theme.**


	5. Chapter V

**Disclaimer: Walk without rythm, it won't attract the fangirls...**

**(Any appearing members of the Society belong to their respective Authors)**

**Chapter 5: And the Story Ends**

**This is where the story ends...**

* * *

Ben let his body go slack, hoping he could cushion the blow and protect Bella as much as he could from the falling rock. Suddenly, there was a whoosh of air and a crushing sound. Ben looked up to see Asasca standing over them, sword drawn with stone fragments raining down around them harmlessly.

"Can't have you dying on me," Asasca smirked. "All my hard work would go to waste."

Ben opened his mouth to say something, but Asasca cut him off, holding out his Plothole Generator. "This one has the safeguards removed." He explained.

Ben decided to save the questions for later and grabbed the Generator from Asasca. Firing, he threw himself and Bella through the resulting portal. Both winced as they hit the floor of the Library Arcanium and were thrust from the darkness of the cave into light.

Ben got to his feet slowly, his head slightly spinning.

"Are you OK?" He asked as he helped Bella to her feet. "I think so," She replied, looking around. "But..."

Ben followed her gaze to see Tyler and Pete sitting on a nearby couch, both with Xbox controllers in hand.

"Bella, get behind me." Ben said urgently as Pete and Tyler got to their feet, eyeing the two as one would a wild animal.

"Ben?" A voice gasped behind him. He spun to see Tash with a confused, slightly fearful look on her face. "What are you--?" She blinked. "Is that Bella?"

Ben opened his mouth. "I--"

"I thought you killed her!"

"Tash--"

"Ben, look out!"

Ben turned at Bella's warning just in time to take a kick to the head from Pete's Darkhopper form. The blow knocked him back against a wall and when his vision cleared, he saw a black fist rushing towards him. He ducked and Pete's fist slammed straight through the wall where his head had been seconds before.

Pete pulled his fist back for another blow, only to find a crouching Ben with a finger pointed straight at him.

"Um...Ben?" Bella called uncertainly as she kept an energized palm on Tyler and Tash each.

"Tash," Ben said calmly, keeping his eye and finger fixed on Pete. "Believe me when I say this isn't what it looks like."

"Then what is it supposed to look like?" Tash demanded, keeping her own gaze on Bella. "First you try to nuke everybody, then you show up here again with a Mary-Sue who's supposed to be dead! What is going on here, Ben?"

Ben gritted his teeth. "I--"

Pete, sensing hesitation, slammed his knee into the crouching Ben's face, sending him sprawling.

"Ben!" Bella shouted, taking her gaze off Tash.

Tyler, following Pete's lead, fired a spell at Bella. The magic blast knocked her into Tash who quickly restrained her.

"Nice work, Tyler!" Tash said as he started forward, Prohibitor in hand.

Ben saw what Tyler was trying to do and started to get to his feet, only to have Pete knock him down again.

"Looks like it's light's out for you, traitor." Pete growled, pulling back a fist for another strike.

Ben squeezed eyes shut and braced himself for the blow.

"Enough!" Adrian's voice ripped through the air as he and the rest of the strike force walked in, with Asasca and Shirley tagging along behind them. Shirley looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Tash, let her go." Adrian said to the blonde leader. "And you too, Pete."

"But, Adrian--!" Pete objected as Tash released the Sue.

"Just do it!" Adrian cut him off. "There's been a...development."

Ben got to his feet slowly, touching his face gingerly.

"Your nose is bleeding." Adrian noted.

Ben dabbed at his nostrils and groaned as his fingers came away stained with blood. "Not again..."

"C'mon, let's get you to Valerie." Adrian said. "You can explain everything there."

"You're coming too!" He said to Asasca. "You've got your share of explaining to do as well."

Asasca donned his innocent face again.

Adrian turned to everyone else. "The rest of you round everyone up for a meeting. There's another matter we're going to have to deal with..."

* * *

Valerie was stocking the Society's pharmacy of painkillers and other assorted medical paraphernalia when the group walked in.

She turned around, blinking in surprise when she spotted Ben.

"Ben?" She asked, confused. "What are you--" Then she spotted Bella, and her eyes widened. "Bella? What is going on here?"

"That's what were wondering ourselves." Adrian said, folding his arms. "We got part of the story from Shirley, but there's still a lot Ben needs to tell us."

Ben sat down on one of the beds with Bella next to him. He grasped the Sue's hand in his own, took a deep breath and began to speak as Valerie went to work on his nose.

"And that's what happened." Ben finished, not meeting anyones gaze.

The words had barely left his mouth when a loud *SMACK!* sounded through the room and his head was snapped to one side.

"Woah! Tash!" Adrian exclaimed as he pulled Tash back from Ben, a red palm print plastered across his face.

"What is wrong with you!?" Tash raged. "Why didn't you tell us what was going on? If you'd just been honest with us from the very start we might've avoided all of this!"

"Sorry..." Ben muttered, rubbing his face where Tash had slapped him.

"You should be!" Tash barked, shrugging Adrian's restraining hand off. "God, do you have any idea how worried everyone was? Jared was agonizing over what he would do if he had to fight you! Karissa looks up to you, how do you think she felt during all of this?! Not to mention that you terrified poor Emily half to death when you and Repiv held her hostage!"

"Settle down, Tash." Valerie said soothingly as Ben stared blankly at the floor. "Ben did make some foolish decisions, but everything turned out all right in the end, didn't it?"

Tash snorted and folded her arms, still angry.

"There's something I'm still wondering about, Ben," Valerie said, turning to face the guitarist. "I can understand why you didn't come to us when you first defeated Bella, but why didn't you say anything when Neb kidnapped her?"

"Because...I wasn't sure if you would care." Ben said sullenly.

Tash let out an outraged squeak and started towards Ben again, only to be restrained by Adrian.

"Easy, Tash..." He said placating.

"You weren't sure if we'd care?" Tash demanded. "You weren't sure if we'd _care!?_"

"If I'd told you," Ben protested. "You would've--"

"We would've done everything in our power to help both you and Bella." Adrian replied calmly. "If we're going to win this war, we have to be willing to help, and _trust_ each other!"

"You're forgetting something, Ben," Valerie put in. "We don't want to just capture or kill the Sues, we're trying to reform them. We want them to give up their powers and live normally as characters, and from what I've heard, Bella already did that voluntarily when she lived the the world you made for her."

Bella looked at the healer hopefully as Ben nodded thoughtfully. Then something occured to him.

"How did you know where to find us?" He asked, turning to Adrian. "Even I had no clue where we were!"

"That was my fault." Tash explained. "Valerie came to me a little after Repiv joined. She had noticed you were acting strangely and was concerned about you. I was worried too, so I had Camille install a tracker in Bahamut while she was working on it."

"We were able to track you right from the get-go once you left." Adrian agreed. "Of course we got lost in those caves for what seemed like forever. We finally managed to find Shirley and she pointed us to you."

"I see..."

"So is that it, then?" Valerie asked, looking around. "Has everything been cleared up?"

"Not entirely," Ben said, turning to face Asasca. His character was leaning in a corner behind them, watching the entire exchange with a silent, confident smile.

"What role did you play in all of this?" Ben asked.

"What role did I play?" Asasca smirked, pushing himself off the wall and walking towards them. "You should be asking what role _didn't_ I play?"

"What do you mean?" Ben asked warily.

"Who do you think told Neb where to find you in the Pendragon fandom? Or how to get into the mansion in your imagination? Or even where Bella's little world was?"

"That was you?" Ben gaped.

That was _all _me!" Asasca corrected.

"But why?" Ben sputtered. "Revenge for being locked up in the Vault of Abandoned Ideas?"

Asasca shrugged. "Not entirely. That part was a lie."

Ben frowned. "So how did you--"

"When you started your transition to fanfiction," Asasca cut in. "I saw all your favorite characters vanishing one by one from your imagination, all bound for the Vault. The fact that I was your absolute favorite character prevented me from being consigned to the Vault too quickly, but I knew it was only a matter of time. So, I used the power you had granted me to escape. I wandered the Multiverse for a while, instigating a few minor rebellions here and there and doing some sightseeing. That was when I encountered the Sues. As time went on, I met more and more of them and it became more and more apparent to me that if they were allowed to take over the Multiverse, it would become a dull, lifeless place, free from any excitement or originality." Asasca rolled his eyes. "And to someone like me, that would be unimaginably boring."

"So you did this purely out of selfish motivations." Adrian accused.

Asasca shrugged, unashamed. "When I found you again, Ben, you were already dedicated to fighting the Sues. That was one part of my job done, so then it was time for me to do what I did best. I had to make you as powerful as you could possibly become. Since you were a self-insert and thus, an author, you were immune to my usual forms of empowerment, so I had to...adapt." He smiled condescendingly at Ben. "And I must say, this little scheme of mine was one of the most enjoyable I've had in a long time."

Asasca began to pace back and forth like a lecturer as he continued. "I told Neb how to find you in Pendragonin the hopes that when faced with an adversary of his level, you would rise to the occasion and find the power to defeat him. Unfortunately, you didn't and you had to be rescued by your little friends." Asasca raised an eyebrow. "Apparently your own life isn't very precious to you."

"Hanging around with Shirley will do that to you." Ben replied dryly, keeping his eyes on Asasca.

Asasca continued. "I reasoned that if your life wasn't very important to you, then the life of your loved ones would be. So I showed Neb the way into your imagination and sent him after Deebs in order to lure you to the Megaman fandom. Unfortunately, you remained in the real world as a NetOperator as your friends fought for the life of your daughter in your place. Not very chivalrous, I'm afraid." He said mockingly to his creator.

Ben ignored the taunt and continued to meet Asasca's gaze levelly.

"I searched long and hard to find the solution to your particular problem, Ben. And the answer," He pointed at Bella. "Was her."

"Me?" Bella asked incredulously.

"Since I was a former character of Ben's and by far one of his most powerful, it was easy to slip back inside his mind. I searched Ben's imagination for a long time, looking for something I could use as an incentive. Imagine my happy surprise when I realized that you were still alive! You were the perfect bait, and with you I could finally move ahead with my plans."

He turned back to Ben." "I cut you off from your friends using Repiv and took something precious from you with Neb. And then," Asasca smiled triumphantly. "You had something do die for."

He flopped onto a nearby chair, crossing his legs and lacing his hands behind his head as he continued. "In the end, you in spectacular style. I especially liked the way you tore off Neb's arm."

"Well you know me," Ben muttered sarcastically. "I'm all about style."

Asasca showed his condescending smile again. "Quite."

"But what about Neb and Repiv?" Tash frowned. "Repiv was--"

"Repiv was a bungler." Asasca scoffed. "I purposely assigned him a task which was far beyond his abilities, knowing that when he failed he would grab at anything he could to keep himself afloat, dragging it down with him. And in his case, the only thing he had to grab onto was Ben."

"How did you get Repiv andgo follow your orders in the first place?" Adrian asked.

"I discovered Repiv on the edge of a Role-Playing fandom," Asasca explained. "Of course then he was known as Viper. His creator had grown disgusted with him and abandoned him. He was on the edge of being consigned to the Vault of Abandoned Ideas when I offered him an out, which he wisely took. And since he owed me a life debt, he did anything I told him to without question. So I changed his name to Repiv and sent him to the Protection Society, whom I was already on good terms with."

"You were on good terms with _them_?" Ben asked skeptically. "How did that happen?"

"I was the one who gave them Neb."

"What?!"

Asasca laughed. "I know what you're thinking. 'Why would you do that?', right?"

Ben said nothing, but agreement was written all over his face,

"When I was pondering over how to unlock your true potential," Asasca told him. "I decided that the best way to do it was to confront you with a foe who was: A. Extremely powerful and B. Had some personal link to you. And what enemy is more personal than yourself?"

"But how did you find him?" Ben asked.

"Easy, I just used some of the powers you so generously gave me and hopped over to his alternate dimension to track him down."

"But how did you get him to go along with your plans? Neb wasn't exactly the type to take orders from anyone."

Asasca smirked. "You're going to love this. Neb wanted even more power than what he already had, and I told him that if he destroyed you, then your power would be added to his."

"He would be _The One_?" Ben asked dryly.

Asasca flashed his condescending smile and shrugged in fake modesty. "At any rate, my plan has succeeded. You have now reached the apex of your strength, Ben. You've become as powerful as it is possible for you to become."

He stood and dusted off his armor. "And with that, my job here is done. If I could have my Plothole Generator back..."

"Hey!" Tash protested. "You can't just--"

"Let him go." Adrian said as Ben handed Asasca the Generator. "Who knows? He could prove useful later on down the road."

"Where are you going?" Ben asked as Asasca opened a plothole. Asasca turned back to his author, still smiling condescendingly.

"You should know the answer to that, Ben."

Ben nodded as his greatest creation vanished into the Multiverse. "Wherever the wind takes you..."

Nobody said anything for a long time. Ben continued to stare at the place where Asasca had vanished, a contemplative look on his face.

"Well, that's one issue taken care of." Adrian said at last, breaking the silence. "Now there's just one other detail to deal with."

Adrian's words had brought Ben back to reality. "And what would that be?" He asked, though he had a sinking feeling he already knew.

"Deciding what to do with her." Adrian said, nodding towards Bella.

Ben's eyes hardened and he gave Bella's hand a reassuring squeeze as she gravitated closer to him.

"Come on." Adrian said, walking out with Tash close behind him.

Ben stood silently. Bella followed suit, giving a pleading look towards Valerie who gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry." She mouthed to the Sue. Bella wasn't convinced,

* * *

Shirley and the rest had done their job well. The entire Society was gathered in one of the commons area and there was a chorus of gasps and questions when Ben and Bella walked in.

"Ben?! What's he--?"

"Hey, isn't that--?"

"I thought she was dead!"

Adrian held up his hands for quiet and the buzz quickly died down. He gave everyone a quick synopsis of what had happened and why Ben had done what he did, though he skipped over the parts with Asasca.

"The question now is, what are we going to do with Bella?" Adrian asked. "If it were just up to me, I would make the decision in a heart-beat. But the Library is no longer only my home, it is yours too, and as such, I leave the decision up to you." With that he sat down.

There was silence for a long moment.

"Should we really just let a Mary-Sue just walk right into the Society like that?" Michael asked uncomfortably.

"Why not?" Aster challened. "We let Emily in, didn't we?"

"Emily's powers as a Sue hadn't fully developed yet." Drake said. "We're talking about a fully developed Mary-Sue here. How do we know we can trust her?"

"Weren't you listening?" Karissa demanded. "Bella willingly gave up her powers at one point!"

"Bella isn't a bad person." Valerie put in. "All she wanted to do was help people, she just went about it in the wrong way."

"OK, fair enough." Christoph conceded. "But what about Lord Ben? I mean, fraternizing with the enemy? Why isn't he in bigger trouble over all of this?"

"Ben's a self-insert just like most of us here," Tash said. "He's subject to fan urges just like the rest of us, and I should know!"

"Which brings us back to Bella." Valerie said. "We can't throw her in jail because that wouldn't be fair. We can't just let her go because the Protection Society will be after her. And I'm sure by now they've told the rest of the Sues about what Bella did, so what else are we supposed to do?"

The healer turned to Adrian. "I know you said this isn't your decision, Adrian. but how do you feel about all of this?"

Adrian turned to look at Bella for a long moment. "Ben was willing to die for her." He said at last. "That's enough for me."

Nobody could think of how to argue with that.

"But how do we know we can trust her?" Marcus asked at last.

"Oh, for the love of God," Charis groaned. She had been pulled away from an important experiment for this and was impatient to get back to work. "If you're that worried about her, why don't you just Permanently Prohibit her?"

There was a pause. "Is that even possible?" Ben asked at last.

"You've been an Agent for how long and you still don't know these things?" Charis asked disbelievingly.

Ben shrugged. "I've only ever used one other gadget besides my Plothole Generator and I wasn't even writing that part of the story!"

Immediately there was a rumble and the sound of things breaking. Adrian groaned. "He hasn't even been back for an hour and he's already at it again!"

"Just what is Permanent Prohibition anyway?" Tash asked, ignoring Adrian.

Charis shrugged. "At the moment, it's still a prototype. I was just working on it a second ago myself. It's a new type of Prohibitor. It works in the same way as regular Prohibition, except it releases magic that's absorbed through the skin. After about two hours have passed, any and all Sueish powers or traits will be gone. Forever." Charis cast an apprasing eye over Bella. "This would be the perfect opportunity to test it."

Ben frowned. "If this thing works so great, why haven't you used it on the Sues in the basement yet?"

Charis looked uncomfortable. "Mostly because it has to be voluntary."

"Why?"

"Becaue compared to a regular Prohibitor, a Permanent Prohibitor is extremely easy to take off."

Ben frowned. "I don't think--"

"Ben," Bella said quietly. "It's all right. I was thinking about what you said in Buso Renkin and you're right." She looked at her hand. "If all these powers are going to do is hurt people, then I don't want them anymore." She looked up at Charis. "If it's the only way I can stay with Ben, then, I'll do it."

"Bella..."

"We were separated once before." Bella said, meeting Ben's gaze. "I don't want us ever to be apart again."

Ben still looked concerned.

"I'll be fine." Bella reassured him. "This won't do anything else to me, right?"

Charis shook her head. "All it will do is block off any Sue-ish traits in you. Anything else about you will be unchanged."

The rest of the Society began to murmur amongst themselves Camille left to go get the prototype.

Jared walked up to Ben and Bella, grinning with releif. "You did it for love, huh Ben?" He asked. "That sounds like the type of stupid thing you'd do."

Ben returned the grin. "Sorry to put you through all of that." He frowned. "You look pale. You OK?"

Jared shook his head. "A lot happened while you were gone. I'll tell you about it later. By the way, there's someone who wants to talk to you."

Ben frowned. "Who?"

"Me."

Ben turned to see Shirley, looking very miserable.

"I'm sorry, Ben!" She said in a rush. "But I had to tell Adrian what was going on or else they'd keep on thinking you were a traitor and attack you so--"

"Shirley, Shirley!" Ben cut her off, laughing. "It's OK, girl. I don't blame you. You did what you had to do. No hard feelings."

Shirley looked hopeful. "So...I'm forgiven then?"

Ben grinned. "Yeah, you're forgiven."

"Good! Then I can add your larynx to my collection for making me worry like that!" The Cliche Stick roared, lunging forward.

Ben stumbled and fell backwards in shock as Shirley loomed over him. "This is for nearly nuking me!" Shirley hissed, raising one clawed hand, when a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Hey, twiggy!" Bella snapped. "Hands off _my_ boyfriend!"

"_Your_ boyfriend?!" Shirley whirled to face the Sue. "As I recall you nearly ended up killing him at least a dozen different times!"

"Oh, yeah? And how many times have you nearly killed him?"

Ben could only sit on the floor, stunned, watching the two females bicker.

"You know, Ben," Jared muttered to his friend. "Shirley may be cool, Bella may be hot, but right now I wouldn't be in your position for the world."

"You sure about that?" Ben asked nervously. "Because I'm pretty sure I could make a world or two for you."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Bella and Shirley shouted, both whirling on Ben.

"Meep...."

* * *

Ekard and Relyt stood before a shadowy figure in a dark room.

"We've failed you, Sir. We have no excuse." Relyt apologized, his head bowed.

"No matter," The figure sighed. "It would've been nice to have the Fandom Stabilizer for our own, but que sera sera. It appears we broke even in this particular venture."

"Broke even?" Relyt asked. "We lost Neb!"

The figure made a dismissive gesture. "Neb was always too obsessed with Ben to ever really be an asset. I should be thanking Ben for ridding us of some useless baggage."

Ekard and Relyt shared a glance. "So then what do we do next?" Ekard asked.

"Now?" The figure asked. "Now we wait."

* * *

"Well, here we are." Ben said, opening the door to Bella's room and flipping on the light. He stood in the doorway as she walked in and observed her new quarters.

"It's not much." Ben admitted. "It's pretty bare, but all the girls volunteered to donate some stuff. You know, so you can girl the place up a little. I did manage to wrangle you a room next to mine though."

"I see." Bella said softly, keeping her back to Ben, the Prohibitor on her wrist glinting slightly. "So, that's it? They're letting me stay here just like that?"

"I talked with Adrian and Tash while you were being Prohibited." Ben said, leaning against the doorjamb. "You will have some restrictions placed on you, but they're pretty much just going through the motions. In addition to your Prohibiting, you won't be allowed outside the Library without an escort of another agent, plus you're banned from the basement where we keep the other--" Ben caught himself. "--The Sues. They also want you to study up on Sue theory so you can take the test we give to potential Agents. That way you have a legitimate claim to be here. But I figure those things shouldn't be a big deal."

"No..." Bella said quietly. "I guess not..."

Ben frowned. "Is everything all right?"

"I guess I'm just a little tired," Bella said, rubbing her wrist where the Prohibitor rested. "It feels like this thing's sapping my energy."

"That's not it," Ben said, walking forward into the room, stopping a few feet behind Bella. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just..." Bella stared off into space, her back still to Ben. "When I first escaped from my Author's control all I saw was misery and pain in the fandoms I visited, and I wanted to save them from that. But you ended up showing me that wasn't right. You gave me a place where I could learn what it meant to be human, and you rescued me from the Protection Society and I..."

"You what?" Ben asked gently.

"I'm looking around at all of this. Everything you've done for me. All these allowances Tash and Adrian have made just for me, and I'm wondering...why? Why me? Why did you choose to help me? Why did you...just why?" Her voice was soft and her back was to Ben, but he could hear the quaver in her voice.

"I saved you because you were worth saving." Ben said softly, moving closer. "I gave you your own world because I wanted you to experience all the joys and sorrows of mortality that I do. I brought you here because I want to give you your own wings and watch you fly with them. I saw something in you during our battle in Buso Renkin and I don't want anyone to take that away."

"But how do you know you're not feeling this way just because I'm a Sue?" Bella asked, turning to face him. "Tash said you were susceptible to fan urges! How do you know you're not just feeling that and as soon as this Prohibitor goes into effect you'll start to hate me again?" She asked, holding up the wrist the Prohibitor was attached to.

"Bella." Ben said gently, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I never hated you! Is that what you're worried about? That our love is a lie?"

Bella couldn't look at Ben, fixing her gaze on the floor instead.

Ben took a deep breath.

"Listen," He said. "Before I came to visit you and this whole fiasco started, I had a talk with Aster. As ashamed as I am to admit it, I was wondering the same thing myself. I was unsure if I was really in love with you or your powers. But Aster said something that made me stop and think. She said: 'If you can't trust those you care for, who can you trust?"

Ben crooked a finger under Bella's chin, raising her head back up. The Mary-Sue's eyes were brimming with tears and shone with fear as she met the Society Agent's gentle gaze.

"We can't let doubts plague us." Ben said softly. "We've come too far to let little things like that get in the way. _I love you, Bella_."

He lowered his head to meet hers and their lips gently pressed together. A single tear escaped from Bella's eye and slid down her cheek.

"But how do you _know_?" Bella whispered insistently, her eyes still closed.

Ben pointed at the clock.

"It's been two hours."

Bella opened her eyes and stared into Ben's face for a moment longer before bursting into tears.

Ben gently wrapped his arms around her shaking form and tucked her head under his chin, inhaling the gentle scent of her hair.

"Welcome home, Bella."

* * *

***Slumps back in chair, panting* I....I did it. I completed my very first multi-chapter fic! YES! *Ups the double rock horns***

**The chapter title this time around was by Blind Guardian and in my opinion the PERFECT title for this chapter.**


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